Albuquerque, NM (KKOB) — On Tuesday the U.S. Housing and Urban Development agency told New Mexico state lawmakers that they’re actively encouraging local housing officials to participate in a new program creating work requirements for tenants in government-subsidized housing. The rule would enable the more than two dozen local and tribal housing authorities in New Mexico, as well as owners who participate in federal housing voucher programs, to require non-elderly, non-disabled adults to work up to 40 hours a week to maintain their housing. It would also allow the authorities and property owners to evict tenants once they’ve stayed in subsidizing housing for two years. Ashlea Quinonez, HUD’s administrator for the region that includes New Mexico said “often there is this stagnation of the same individuals that are residing in those public housing units. What we’ve seen as well is two or three or sometimes four generations of individuals that are living in public housing. The agencies goal is to support them on a path to self-sufficiency.”
