{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://zinke.house.gov/media/press-releases/zinke-grills-hud-secretary-diverting-millions-montana-housing-authority", "Zinke Grills HUD Secretary on Diverting Millions from Montana Housing Authority Reserves", "2024-05-03", "2024", "2024-05", "Republican", "House", "MT", "Ryan K. Zinke", "Z000018", "zinke.house.gov", "zinke", "https://zinke.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. - This week at a House Appropriations Transportation Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies (THUD) Subcommittee hearing, Congressman Ryan Zinke grilled acting Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Adrianne Todman on the $4.5 million HUD diverted from the Montana Housing Authorities (MHA) reserves by the agency. The reserves are used for financial assistance for renters in Montana who are currently grappling with an extreme affordability and availability issue thanks to decades-high inflation and skyrocketing housing costs in Montana.\n\nAccording to the MHA, rescinding the reserves cost roughly 576 Montana families access to housing assistance. Zinke urged the administration to remedy the issue immediately so existing contracts can continue to move forward, and the MHA can resume regular business of providing relief.\n\nPatti Webster, CEO of MHA said, \u201cWe are asking that HUD to give Montana agencies their money back, to allow for full flexibility in using those funds to assist the families in our local communities, and to stop the overreach of the continued offsets.\u201d\n\n\u201cRenters in Montana are feeling the pressure right now under Biden\u2019s inflation. Costs for everything from gas and groceries to education and rent are through the roof, building new units is more expensive than ever, and the availability of open units is extremely limited. Now is not the time for the administration to swipe money from struggling Montanans trying to make ends meet,\u201d said Rep. Zinke. \u201cI appreciate the Montanan Housing Authority for bringing it to my attention and working with my staff to make sure we recoup those funds for the benefit of Montanans.\u201d\n\nWatch a clip from the hearing here.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T21:01:11Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://zinke.house.gov/media/press-releases/zinke-grills-hud-secretary-diverting-millions-montana-housing-authority"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.7554879412055016, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}