November 21, 2006
The Honorable Brian Joyce
Senate Chair
Joint Committee on Housing
State House, Room 413-A
Boston, MA 02133
The Honorable Kevin Honan
House Chair
Joint Committee on Housing
State House, Room 38
Boston, MA 02133
Dear Chairman Joyce and Chairman Honan:
United Disability Housing Partnership is a statewide coalition of organizations dedicated to expanding housing opportunities for low income and homeless individuals living with a wide range of disabilities. United Housing’s member organizations represent well over 250,000 individuals across Massachusetts.
We are writing to you today to ask that you immediately convene the Joint Committee on Housing to hold oversight hearings into Governor Romney’s recently-announced budget cuts. These hearings will allow the legislature to hear directly from those impacted by the funding reductions.
On November 10, Governor Romney announced a long list of funding reductions in the FY 2007 budget. These cuts impact many state agencies and departments, including several that serve the housing needs of persons living with disabilities. For example, the Governor has dramatically reduced funding for the Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program (MRVP), Rental Assistance for Families in Transition (RAFT), the Alternative Housing Voucher Program (AHVP), Department of Mental Health Homeless Services, and Boulet Services.
The members of United Housing strongly believe that these cuts are misguided and should be repealed by the legislature as soon as possible.
If you have any questions or would like more information about the impact of these cuts on low income and homeless individuals living with disabilities, please contact Matt Noyes at 617-927-0088 x26 or mnoyes
ahc.org.
Thank you for your consideration of this important issue.
Sincerely,
The Undersigned Members of United Disability Housing Partnership