Liberal groups opposed it, but conservatives are applauding the latest plan by the Trump administration that would give Florida more control over housing programs, such as Section 8.
The proposal would cut the Federal Housing and Urban Development Department (HUD) and send the money to the states to let them run it. It also calls for cutting rental assistance by 40%, implementing a two-year cap on rental assistance for able-bodied adults, and ending housing voucher programs.
Essentially, Florida would get more control over how the HUD dollars are used through block grants.
Much of the increase in HUD spending over the last few years came under the Biden administration during COVID.
In April 2021, the American Rescue Plan Act was passed, which gave over 70,000 “COVID emergency” housing vouchers to individuals who claimed they were going to lose their housing because of the shutdowns.
The U.S. Inspector General’s Office (OIG) warned the Trump and Biden administrations in 2020 and 2021 not to randomly spend federal dollars for “emergency purposes” during the pandemic.
During that timeframe, the OIG noted that people who weren’t even eligible were allowed to qualify for housing assistance and other welfare programs which he said led to fraud.
On their website, HUD’s Office of Inspector General (HUD OIG) has a list of investigations and convictions of those who have committed fraud.
These include individuals convicted of bank fraud and wire fraud. OIG, through HUD, has many convictions of bribery of government officials. Fraudulent disaster recovery claims. Convictions of Housing Authority officials for embezzlement of federally funded public housing, money laundering, and the conviction of real estate investors who conspired to fraudulently obtain multimillion-dollar loans on commercial and multifamily properties.
