WORKING TO PROVIDE MAINERS WITH AFFORDABLE HOUSING

It is unacceptable that hardworking men and women in the Untied States are unable to afford the most basic housing accommodations. It is also unacceptable that families often cannot find available housing in or near the communities in which they work, even if they are able to scrape together the cost. In Portland, for example, the median home price in 1999 was $129,500. By 2001, the median price had increased to $158,000. During this period, fair market rent for a two-bedroom apartment soared from $641 to $817 per month. Putting these figures in perspective, an individual or family would need an income of more than $50,000 to be able to afford a home costing $158,000.

These numbers don't add up, and many people simply cannot afford to live where they work. As a result, problems like urban sprawl, traffic congestion, and the isolation of socioeconomic groups – to name just a few – have become increasingly common. These are trends that we should make every effort to curb in Maine because they threaten the economic vitality of our state and, in the long run, the quality of life that makes Maine one of the finest places in the country to live, work, raise a family, or retire. I recently had the opportunity to participate in a roundtable discussion, sponsored by the National Housing Conference, which was held at the University of Maine School of Law, during which we again highlighted the troubles of many hard-working families as they see more and more of their income swallowed up by housing costs.

As a U.S. Senator, I have consistently supported a number of important federal programs to help bring affordable housing to our state. I have always been a strong supporter of fully funding the Section 8 voucher program, which helps lower income families afford clean, safe housing. Furthermore, this year I signed letters requesting additional funding for a number of important housing programs, including the Community Development Block Grant program, the HOME Investment Partnerships Program, and YouthBuild. Although budgets are tighter right now than they were a few years ago, these programs have a proven track record of success in expanding opportunities for low-income Maine families to live in decent, affordable homes.

I have also backed several important pieces of legislation to promote affordable housing. The Community Development Tax Credit Act, for example, would encourage developers and investors to build or substantially rehabilitate homes for sale to low- and moderate-income buyers in low-income areas. By giving housing developers a tax credit to build affordable single family housing, we create a situation in which everybody wins: developers have an incentive to provide housing stock because the tax credit helps close the gap between construction costs and home prices, and many Maine families have the opportunity to achieve their dream of owning a home. This bill enjoys strong bipartisan support in Congress, and I will continue to press for its passage.

This fall, I am also planning to reintroduce the Affordable Housing Expansion Act, which I originally introduced last year with Senator Kit Bond. The bill has three components designed to increase the production of affordable housing. First, it would create a $1 billion block grant program that would allocate funds to state housing agencies to develop low- and mixed-income housing.

Second, it would create a "Thrifty" Voucher housing production program. For a number of reasons, it has become increasingly difficult for many low-income families and individuals to secure adequate housing, even with Section 8 assistance. This approach focuses on the project-based side of the equation by promoting new construction and rehabilitation of affordable housing units.

Finally, the bill would establish a new loan guarantee program for public housing agencies for rehabilitating public housing or developing off-site public housing in mixed-income developments. This legislation offers important means to expand affordable housing across the country, while allowing states important flexibility to spend the federal dollars they receive. I am hopeful that it will garner broad support when we reintroduce this important bill.

These are some of the efforts I have been working on in Congress to help alleviate the growing housing crunch that we are experiencing in Maine, and that so many Americans are now facing across the country. We cannot afford to allow our housing markets to displace the workers on whom our economy depends, and I will continue to push for adequate funding for those programs that have been proven to work when it comes to providing incentives to lower housing costs.