Trump considering new work requirements, raising rent for federally subsidized housing: report

The Trump administration is considering adding new work requirements and increasing rent for people living in subsidized housing, according to NBC News.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) would allow public housing authorities and private owners to require each adult in a household to work up to an average of 32 hours a week.

The elderly and disabled — who make up 55 percent of those receiving federal housing aid — would be exempt from the requirements. Another 26 percent of those receiving assistance are already working, NBC News reported Tuesday.

{mosads}Education and vocational training could count toward those hours, but volunteer service would not, according to a copy of the draft proposal obtained by NBC.

The Intercept first reported about the draft proposal earlier this month.

Experts told NBC that such a move could allow states to start adding work requirements for rental assistance as well. And advocates for those in low-income housing warned that the work requirements could hurt already vulnerable households.

HUD declined to comment to NBC about the proposals, and did not immediately return a request for comment from The Hill.

This proposal comes after the Trump administration began allowing states to impose work requirements on Medicaid recipients. Kentucky and Indiana have both earned approval from the administration to add the requirements to their programs.

The proposal also recommends rent increases for those receiving the subsidies. Rental contributions would increase to 35 percent of tenants’ income, up from 30 percent. Recipients would also not be allowed to deduct medical and child-care costs from their incomes.

The proposal also includes a higher mandatory minimum rent at about $150 a month, based on the federal minimum wage. This is a large increase from the proposed minimum rent of $50 per month included in Trump’s budget last year.

The proposals will likely be formally released when the Trump administration unveils its budget in the coming weeks.