HB1076 appropriates $60.4 million, including at least $15 million from federal funds, to the Arkansas Development Finance Authority for “low-income housing” and “student loans.”
The Senate passed HB1076 on April 18, 2024, by a vote of 32 to 0. We have assigned pluses to the nays because the State of Arkansas has absolutely no business subsidizing “low-income housing” or financing “student loans.” Moreover, neither does the federal government have legitimate authority to engage in “affordable housing” programs. In fact, Section 8 in Article I of the U.S. Constitution expressly prohibits Section 8 of the 1937 Housing Act. Our Constitution is intended to “promote the general Welfare” of all Americans, regardless of economic status, by protecting each person’s “unalienable Rights” to “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” This affords everyone the opportunity and dignity to provide for themselves and their family as expected—whether through their own, individual efforts or the voluntary, charitable acts of others.
