4/25/2018

BEN CARSON/HUD/TRUMP PEOPLE: “HUD Secretary Ben Carson on Wednesday [4-25-18] unveiled a major overhaul of the rental-housing system, proposing to increase the share of rent that low-income households must pay without assistance and give public housing authorities the option to impose work requirements. The proposal reshaping the way HUD helps 4.5 million people meet their rent is part of a broader Trump administration push to link anti-poverty programs to employment. Currently, rental assistance recipients spend about 30 percent of their adjusted income on housing, with subsidies picking up the rest. Under the proposal HUD is sending to Congress, recipients would have to contribute 35 percent of their gross income. Carson — who often refers to his own up-from-nothing life story as a parable for the poor and said last year that poverty is ‘a state of mind’ — has long called on HUD to focus on helping people get off assistance, rather than expanding the benefits it provides.”

Katy O’Donnell, “Carson proposes that poor should pay more rent,” Politico, April 25, 2018 2:15 pm