NEAH BAY — A proposed $90 million cut in federal funds could cripple low-cost programs of the Makah Housing Authority and deeply damage other tribes’ projects.
As passed June 30 by the U.S. House of Representatives, the measure “means no growth and no immediate resources to meet the needs of the approximately 50 people who are on our waiting list,” said Wendy Lawrence, Makah housing manager.
It also spells unemployment for some Makahs who work in the housing-maintenance program, she said.
“It’s going to mean fewer jobs for us here in Neah Bay,” she said.
“It’s going to affect the economy of the entire tribe.”
For the Lower Elwha Klallam tribe, the cuts would halve home construction on its reservation west of Port Angeles, according to John Williamson, the tribe’s housing authority director.
The situation for the Lower Elwhas is worsened by the shortage of affordable housing in and around Port Angeles.
“The housing squeeze is really getting desperate,” Williamson said.
The same housing shortage affects the Jamestown S’Klallam tribe east of Sequim. The tribe has no reservation housing project but builds homes in the community and helps tribal members buy them.
“We don’t get enough funding as it is,” said Annette Nesse, housing director.
