On September 6 I spoke about the Houston governments’ decision to revers its ill-advised change to the rent supplement program and the role that two Dartmouth North residents played in making that happen. Here is what I said:
Speaker, recently this government reversed its ill-advised decision to increase the threshold to qualify for the rent supplement, bringing the percentage of the income that you need to spend on your rent down from 50 per cent to 40 per cent - not quite the original 30 per cent, but it is a first step. I’m proud to recognize two Dartmouth North residents who spoke out and no doubt contributed to this change, Sylvia Cole and Dawn Bishop.Sylvia is a senior who spends more than 60 per cent of her fixed income on housing. Because of this, she was confident that she would be approved for the rent supplement. Sadly - due to flaws in the program - she was not. As Sylvia has said, “What’s the point of having a rental subsidy when you make it impossible to get?”Dawn is a single mother who works full-time and was also denied - despite spending more than half of her take-home income on rent. Unfortunately, the supplement is calculated on a pre-tax income, which Dawn rightly calls an imaginary number that you do not see in your pocket. I want to thank Sylvia Cole and Dawn Bishop for speaking up. Their voices have and will continue to make a difference.