Trump calls for fed. housing cuts

Local organizations in Massachusetts say that thousands of low-income families would be in danger of losing affordable housing under President Donald Trump’s 2019 fiscal year budget proposal, which contains severe cuts to social programs such as public housing.

Although multiple media reports say the proposed cuts are “dead on arrival” in Congress, they paint a dark picture of what the president believes should be the government’s role in assisting the country’s most vulnerable populations.

Trump is proposing to slash the Housing and Urban Development department budget by $6.8 billion, a 14 percent decrease from 2017.

For the Boston Housing Authority, a public agency that provides subsidized housing to low- and moderate-income individuals and families, Trump’s budget would be “disastrous,” according to Bill McGonagle, administrator for the BHA.

“He is proposing zeroing out capital budgets completely, and we estimate just at the BHA that we have somewhere between a $500 million to a $750 million capital backlog,” McGonagle said. “It’s beyond comprehension, beyond the pale of comprehension, that anyone can suggest that any housing authority can survive on that kind of funding.”

According to McGonagle, the BHA already experienced budget cuts from the Trump administration when its funding was cut by around 6 percent last year, which resulted in the agency “operating with 200 fewer employees than we had several years ago and ongoing operational cuts.”

But as McGonagle told the Banner, public housing requires regular maintenance, and if there are no funds to upgrade and fix infrastructure such as heating and electrical wiring, “the housing is at further risk of deterioration. If cut further, that could be a potential dangerous situation for current voucher holders.”

Although McGonagle was adamant that there is no substitute for adequate federal funding, the organization is “pursuing public and private partnerships at several of our older federal developments like Bunker Hill Development in Charlestown or the Haley Apartments in Jamaica Plain,” he said.

“We’re trying to come up with a strategy to generate private investment because I’m not hopeful the federal government is going to re-engage anytime in the near future,” said McGonagle.

On a slightly more optimistic note, McGonagle said he doesn’t believe Trump’s budget will “see the light of day.”

“I don’t think even the conservative cost-cutting Republicans that control the Senate and House would even support this level of draconian cut,” he said.

Michael Kane, executive director of the Massachusetts Alliance of HUD Tenants, held a similar viewpoint, doubting the likelihood that Trump’s budget would be completely accepted by Congress but recognizing the dark direction in which the President is leading the country. “It puts a marker by Trump about where they want to go … cutting people off of assistance, that’s what they are really about,” said Kane.

Especially with the Republican tax cut plan, Kane said, “It’s going to drive pressure to cut the budget in the future, so it is important for people to voice opposition to these cuts now.”

One main concern Kane said he has is the administration’s plans for legislation that will enforce work requirements for Americans living in subsidized housing, which he believes has a higher likelihood of being passed by Congress.

“It’s not about helping people find jobs because they’re actually cutting job training, it’s about arbitrarily cutting people off those programs,” said Kane.

The president’s budget cuts to housing also includes canceling Housing Choice Vouchers for about 200,000 low-income households, eliminating the National Housing Trust Fund and community development block grants. Aside from housing, even more dramatic cuts were proposed for the State Department, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Small Business Administration.