Bill seeks to strengthen safety net for homeless, agencies that serve them

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe and U.S. Rep. John Baldacci introduced legislation Thursday that would require the federal government to provide a minimum allocation of funds from its Continuum of Care homeless assistance programs to each of the 50 states.

The bill is part of an effort to prevent repeats of the situation Maine faced this year when the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development denied the Maine State Housing Authority and the city of Portland applications for the funding.

Currently, states can be denied funding through these grant programs, which use a competitive process rather than a formula method for distributing homeless assistance resources.

The legislation will assure minimum funding for every state and assure a fairer allocation of funding, according to the delegation members. Maine was one of four states to be denied funding this year.

The Homeless Assistance Funding Fairness Act would guarantee that every state receives at least 0.5 percent of the resources in the three programs that make up the Continuum of Care initiative. They are the Supportive Housing Program, the Shelter and Care Program and the Section 8 Moderate Rehabilitation Program.

At current allocation levels, this bill would guarantee about $3.5 million to each state.