Under the mandate of Section 524 of the National Mfordable Housing Act of 1990, the Department of Housing and Urban Development has been asked by Congress to "[assess] one or more revised methods ofproviding sufficient Federal funds to public housing agencies (PHAs) for the operation, maintenance, and modernization of public housing." HUD requested Abt Associates, under Task Order Number 001 of the Housing Assistance IndefInite Quantity Contract (H-5889), to conduct a study addressing the signifIcant issues that still exist concerning how federal public housing is fmanced, including comparison with the Section 8 program, and overall update of the 1982 study Alternative Operating Subsidy Systems for the Public Housing Program (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, OffIce of Policy Development and Research, May 1982). Prepared pursuant to a requirement in the Housing and Community Development Act of 1981, the 1982 report reviewed the operating subsidy system for public housing that had evolved subsequent to the Brooke Amendments, set it in historical context, examined some of the criticisms that had been leveled at it, and evaluated the system against a number of alternatives.