Public Housing in War on Poverty

Report Outline
Proposed Changes in Public Housing Law
Landmarks in Public Housing Legislation
Criticism and the Response to Criticism
Special Focus

Proposed Changes in Public Housing Law

Public Housing: Weapon in the War on Poverty

One of the first bills to be introduced in the 89th Congress, assuming President Johnson is elected in November, is likely to be an updated version of the “Housing and Community Development Act of 1964.” Although the President urged passage of this omnibus housing bill, it got caught in the legislative logjam created by the long Senate debate on civil rights. The housing measure now awaiting congressional action is essentially a stopgap measure to extend existing programs for 15 months.

New housing legislation is considered essential to attainment of the goal, proclaimed by Johnson in his State of the Union message last Jan. 8, of “a decent home for every American family.” The President probably would agree with Michael Harrington, author of The Other America, that “Housing is not the only factor in the attack on poverty—but housing is probably the most crucial single factor in its abolition.”

The bill approved July 2 by a Senate subcommittee would authorize construction of 45,000 new public housing units between now and Oct. 1, 1965, and provide an additional $75 million in public housing assistance for the elderly. The October 1965 cutoff date is expected to give Congress ample time to debate the new housing programs proposed in the omnibus bill, which did not reach the floor of either house this year.