Local Housing Authority Raises Alarm Over Potential Cuts

A bill currently under consideration in the U.S. House, known as H.R. 38, would cut some $60 billion from social support programs — and officials at the Johnston Housing Authority are worried about the potential impact to their work in providing safe, affordable housing for seniors and the disabled.

Executive Director David aRusso explained that the House bill, which would return federal spending to 2008 levels, would slash his agency's operating budget by 20 percent and its capital funds — the money JHA uses for emergency and other repairs — by 40 percent.

"This is going to have a devastating impact — you're going to have elderly out in the street," aRusso explained during an interview this morning. "This has an immediate impact on the most vulnerable people."

Among the many ironies aRusso pointed out is the fact that JHA has been consistently named a "high performing" public housing agency — and this may actually count against it.

"We've been named high performing for the past five years," aRusso said, which means the local agency has maintained a healthy financial footing and built up a reserve fund for capital repairs.

Under the current proposal, though, JHA would be required to use that reserve — which typically covers emergencies and updates to vacant units — to cover its operating expenses.

"They're using (the reserve fund) against us," aRusso said.

Just recently the Pell Manor complex on Plainfield Pike sustained a roof collapse because of the snow and ice that built up on the structure, aRusso explained.

"That was almost $100,000 worth of repairs," he said. "If the federal government takes that money, what do we do?"

And while the effect on Johnston's efforts to provide affordable housing to the elderly and disabled will be harmed by the bill, aRusso explained he's also thinking of the potential impact on larger communities.

"I'm going to feel it here, and we're in great shape, but I can imagine in big cities, it's going to be devastating," he said.

aRusso also said he is planning to travel to Washington, D.C., with other housing authority officials from the state to meet with Rhode Island's Congressional delegation on March 28 and ask that they vote against the Republican proposal.

"I'm hoping that we can convince our legislators, and that they can convince other legislators, not to go back to '08 levels, because that would be cruel," aRusso stated.

In the accompanying video, JHA Administrative Assistance Carol Costa shows a recently-vacated apartment that requires extensive repairs and renovations — work that could go undone if H.R. 38 were to pass.