News from the South - Oklahoma News Feed

HUD Funding Delays Fuel Oklahoma Housing Concerns

Published

3 months ago

February 14, 2025

oklahomawatch.org – Heather Warlick – 2025-02-14 15:46:00

by Heather Warlick, Oklahoma Watch
February 14, 2025

Oklahoma’s largest housing authority was among 400 public housing agencies whose 2024 Section 8 Housing Choice voucher programs were underfunded by a total of $400 million by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Oklahoma Housing Finance Agency, which distributes federal subsidies to thousands of Oklahoma landlords who accept Section 8 vouchers, was short almost $3 million.

HUD issued OHFA a $2.4 million shortfall payment in November, leaving the agency short by more than a half-million.

OHFA Executive Director Deborah Jenkins said that so far, Oklahoma landlords and renters haven’t seen delays in their rental assistance payments, but the late HUD reimbursements, combined with Congressional budget battles, could leave housing authorities underfunded and in a predicament.

“Is there any concern right now?” Jenkins said. “Right now, my answer is no. Now, that is subject to change.”

OHFA administers rent assistance to landlords across Oklahoma for more than 10,200 households in areas without a local housing authority.

The Oklahoma City Housing Authority, which covered 4,154 households in 2024, confirmed it is also waiting for more than $1 million from HUD, though OCHA did not apply for the first round of shortfall funding because it was not evident the agency would come up short until later in 2024.

Tulsa Housing Authority confirmed it received enough first-round shortfall funding for its more than 5,700 voucher recipients to complete the year without tapping THA reserves.

Rent hikes that were steeper than HUD algorithms predicted for 2024 are blamed as the primary cause of the end-of-year funding gaps.

To cover the deficit, OHFA spent reserves normally used for programs such as down payment assistance and first-time homebuyer mortgages, Jenkins said.

Jenkins said the delayed payment of $565,000 to OHFA is a significant amount, but the agency pays landlords about $7 million per month for Section 8 rental assistance.

Housing officials at OCHA said they were forced to stop issuing new vouchers when openings became available when they realized late in 2024 that they would come up short of funding. OCHA is authorized for 5001 vouchers but only has funding to support 83% of those through January.

“We had stopped pulling people off the waiting list because we could tell we were going to go into shortfall,” said OCHA Assistant Director of Operations Matt Mills.

A memo from HUD clarified how the department plans to pay the 400 housing agencies for the second round of shortfall funding: Unspent money from 900 public housing authorities is being tapped to offset the shortages.

During its late-January threat of funding freezes that would have affected many Oklahoma social service programs, the Trump administration stated that rental assistance programs would not be impacted.

During its Jan. 29 meeting, the OHFA board of directors authorized Jenkins to use up to $1 million from agency reserves to bridge the funding shortfall.

Jenkins said that if the agency doesn’t receive the shortfall funding soon, she doesn’t know how OHFA will react.

“The possible impact on OCHA programs due to shortfall funding and proposed cuts by Congress could be devastating.”

Richard Marshall

“That’s a question that’s on the table,” Jenkins said.

Further complicating the situation, Congress has until March 14 to enact a fiscal year 2025 spending agreement or the federal government will be forced into a partial shutdown.

Appropriators hoped to reach a spending agreement by the beginning of February, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, but the deal was sidelined after the Trump administration issued an executive order and subsequent memo on Jan. 27 ordering a freeze on funding for thousands of federal programs.

That memo was rescinded, but not before it caused mass uncertainty among agencies and individuals that rely on federally funded programs such as Section 8.

If there is a government shutdown, Jenkins said March payments to landlords won’t be affected because they’ll already have been made.

It’s payments for April that Jenkins said could become a problem if housing authorities don’t receive their shortfall funding and a budget agreement isn’t reached.

Richard Marshall, director of housing choice vouchers at OCHA shares Jenkins’ concern.

“The possible impact on OCHA programs due to shortfall funding and proposed cuts by Congress could be devastating,” Marshall said.

Without appropriate funding, OCHA won’t be able to approve families on the Section 8 waitlist for Housing Choice Vouchers, Marshall said. That waitlist is already approaching four years.

Jenkins emphasized that she is certain the HUD funding will show up any day, but there is a level of uncertainty with what priorities new HUD Secretary Scott Turner will pursue.

“We’re going to take the Trump administration at its word that it does not impact the rental programs,” Jenkins said. “But you know, there are some grave concerns about what’s going on at the federal level.”

This article first appeared on Oklahoma Watch and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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News from the South - Oklahoma News Feed

Storms bring record-setting rain, flooding across parts of Oklahoma

Published

7 hours ago

April 30, 2025

Staff Editor

www.youtube.com – KOCO 5 News – 2025-04-30 22:08:07

SUMMARY: Storms caused record-setting rain and flooding in parts of Oklahoma, leading to dangerous conditions and fatalities. In Pottawatomie County, one person died after driving around flood barriers and being swept off the road near State Highways 102 and 59. Lincoln County saw another fatality when a vehicle was swept away by floodwaters near a creek northwest of Prague. In Cleveland County, homes in Lexington were underwater, prompting rescue efforts by local firefighters using boats. Logan County experienced significant flooding as well, with officials urging residents to report any damage. Additional rain could worsen flooding in the metro area.

Storms bring record-setting rain, flooding across parts of Oklahoma

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News from the South - Oklahoma News Feed

‘A Real Good Test For the First Amendment’ Comes to the Supreme Court

Published

23 hours ago

April 30, 2025

Staff Editor

oklahomawatch.org – Em Luetkemeyer – 2025-04-30 06:00:00

by Em Luetkemeyer, Oklahoma Watch
April 30, 2025

The Supreme Court will hear a case on Wednesday that could pave the way for a much closer relationship between church and state. Some members of Congress from Oklahoma, where the case originated, are eager to hear updates on the case from across the street.

Rep. Kevin Hern said he’d “certainly be getting updates every chance I possibly can.”

“This is going to be a real good test for the First Amendment, and we will see where it goes,” Hern said. “There are a lot of people watching this in Oklahoma on both sides. I would argue there are people watching this across the country — and not just Catholics, but other religions as well.

“I think we’re all waiting,” he said.

Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board v. Drummond will determine whether St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School can contract with the state of Oklahoma and receive public funds. The case could expand the use of public funds on religious schools when it is decided later this term.

It’s a case that’s split Republicans into several camps, and it’s getting close attention from lawmakers outside of Oklahoma and religious-rights groups.

“The court is a very hard body to predict,” Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, who filed an amicus brief in March in support of the school, said. “I really do not have a good sense of how they’ll come out of this. Obviously, they granted it, which is, I think, fantastic.”

While lawmakers go about their business on Capitol Hill this Wednesday morning, the Supreme Court will hear arguments on behalf of the school from lawyers, including some affiliated with the Alliance Defending Freedom and from Notre Dame Law School’s Religious Liberty Clinic. Gregory Garre, a former solicitor general, will argue on behalf of Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond, who has said the school could “force taxpayers to fund all manner of religious indoctrination.”

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, who wrote an amicus brief in support of the school, plans to attend the arguments, his spokesperson told NOTUS. Ryan Walters, Oklahoma’s superintendent of public instruction and an outspoken supporter of religion’s role in public schools, will likely not be at the hearing due to “last minute changes,” a spokesperson said.

Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford, who was also among the conservative lawmakers who filed the amicus brief supporting the school, told NOTUS he won’t be able to attend the hearing Wednesday, but he’d be watching for updates on the case.

“This court, for the last really 15 years, has taken on a lot of issues dealing with religious liberty. It’s not just been even since the new members were added during the Trump administration or the Biden administration,” Lankford said. “This is a very niche-type question, but a pretty significant question of cooperation between a state entity and a religious entity. What can that relationship be?”

Not all members of the Oklahoma delegation have weighed in. Rep. Stephanie Bice’s office did not respond to NOTUS’ request for comment. Reps. Tom Cole and Frank Lucas, as well as Sen. Markwayne Mullin, said they had not been following the case.

“I haven’t been paying attention to it at all,” Mullin said. “Probably should’ve been, but I’m not.”

Rep. Josh Brecheen said that the understanding of the First Amendment has changed over time from “what our founders” intended and has grown beyond this intent due to “liberal interpretation.” This case, he said, could help bring back that “original intent.”

“We’ve, for decades, taken what the founding era believed about God’s place in the public square and we turned it on its head. They never meant for God to be kicked out of the public square,” Brecheen said of the case.

This article first appeared on Oklahoma Watch and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

The post ‘A Real Good Test For the First Amendment’ Comes to the Supreme Court appeared first on oklahomawatch.org

Oklahoma Watch, at oklahomawatch.org, is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that covers public-policy issues facing the state.

Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.

Political Bias Rating: Center-Right

The content presents a primarily factual and measured overview of a Supreme Court case concerning public funding for religious schools, highlighting perspectives from Republican lawmakers and conservative-leaning groups such as the Alliance Defending Freedom. It emphasizes constitutional and religious liberty arguments commonly associated with conservative and right-leaning viewpoints. However, it maintains a neutral tone by including different opinions and background information without explicit editorializing, situating it in a center-right position rather than far-right or partisan advocacy.

News from the South - Oklahoma News Feed

Rain totals continue to climb as storms move across Oklahoma

Published

1 day ago

April 29, 2025

Staff Editor

www.youtube.com – KOCO 5 News – 2025-04-29 21:39:17

SUMMARY: Rain totals are rising as storms move across Oklahoma, with no current tornado warnings. Thunderstorms and heavy rain are impacting areas including Edmond, Oklahoma City, Yukon, Mustang, and Piedmont. Edmond has received two inches of rain in a few hours, with significant amounts also reported south of Lawton (3.5-4 inches). A flash flood warning has been issued, indicating a wet night ahead. Severe thunderstorm warnings include 70 mph winds affecting Slaughterville, Lexington, Wayne, Paola, and Pauls Valley. Western Oklahoma expects more storm development this evening, with ongoing rain and flood risks particularly in Oklahoma, Cleveland, and McClain counties.