Housing and Urban Development
Public housing work requirement clears Arkansas Legislature
The Arkansas Legislature sent a proposed law that would require able-bodied adults to work or volunteer part-time to receive federal housing assistance to Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ desk for approval Thursday. The House voted along party lines to pass the amended House Bill 1196, with 80 Republicans voting yes, 15 Democrats voting no, and two […]
Public housing work requirement bill wins Senate approval
The Arkansas Senate approved legislation Monday that would require able-bodied adults to work, volunteer or train in order to receive public housing assistance. Senators voted 28-5 to send House Bill 1196 back to the House for final consideration. The legislation would require any public housing agency in the state to require able-bodied recipients of housing […]
Proposed work requirement for federal housing assistance advances in Arkansas House
A legislative committee approved a proposed Arkansas law on Wednesday that would require able-bodied adults to work or volunteer part-time to receive federal housing assistance. House Bill 1196 passed on a split vote after state lawmakers and witnesses debated the legality of the proposal and the feasibility of implementing it. Public housing benefits are administered […]
North Little Rock renters fed up with poor living conditions
NORTH LITTLE ROCK — Moving out of a black mold-infested apartment and into a safer one was literally and figuratively a breath of fresh air for Daffany Payne and her seven children, she said Tuesday. However, Payne received a bill for $4,000 worth of repairs at her previous apartment, putting her in debt for problems […]
Little Rock housing authority failed to follow spending and contracting rules, HUD finds
Little Rock’s public housing agency routinely failed to comply with federal, state and its own purchasing rules, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. HUD’s Departmental Enforcement Center reviewed samples of two and a half years of contracts and financial documents from the Housing Authority of the City of […]
Mold, sewage, broken appliances among tenants’ problems in properties whose owner faces AG lawsuit
Nick and Amy Black’s son, August, already had a persistent cough by the time he was two months old. Their pediatrician said the baby is allergic to the mold in the family’s Little Rock apartment. It’s what makes Amy “the most mad” about their living situation at Big Country Chateau, which has had a plethora […]
As rural homelessness increases, HUD aims money at helping people without access to shelters
The Department of Housing and Urban Development has opened up millions of dollars in funding for groups serving unhoused people in rural areas — an unprecedented move by the agency, say housing advocates. People living in cars, parks, and on the street at night, which the agency labels unsheltered homelessness, has increased across the nation, […]
White House requests $47 billion in emergency funding for Ukraine, vaccines and more
The Biden administration is asking Congress for emergency funding to support Ukraine’s military, national COVID and monkeypox responses and to help communities affected by natural disasters. The current fiscal year ends Sept. 30 and Congress has not passed a funding measure for next year, so a short-term bill would be needed to keep the government […]