Affordable housing advocates gathered in Portland this afternoon to urge the U.S. Senate to approve pending legislation to expand and improve the Section 8 housing program.

“We have a real opportunity to strengthen one of Maine’s most important affordable housing programs at a time when foreclosures and an economic downturn are causing widespread housing insecurity,” said Greg Payne, coordinator of the Maine Affordable Rental Housing Coalition.

The advocates urged Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe to continue their past support for the Section 8 program, formally known as the Housing Choice Voucher Program. Enacted in 1974, it is the nation’s largest low-income housing program.

Recipients use the housing vouchers to rent housing in locations of their choosing in the private market. About 2 million households in the U.S. and 12,000 households in Maine make use of Section 8 vouchers.

The Section 8 Voucher Reform Act or SEVRA was approved by the U.S. House of Representatives in July and companion legislation was introduced in the Senate earlier this month. The legislation would make improvements to the program, allowing it to serve more families more efficiently, and would authorize 100,000 new vouchers nationwide.

The Maine Center for Economic Policy released new research today indicating that the demand for Section 8 housing in Maine far outstrips the supply of vouchers, advocates said. Some Maine families live in tents or basements awaiting vouchers, the advocates said.

Mary-Anne E. Martell, an attorney and principal of Seacoast Law & Title in Westbrook, said at today’s press conference that a Section 8 voucher helped her raise her three children as a single mother in law school. “I was able to provide them with stable and appropriate housing while I completed my degree and increased my earning potential,” Martell said. “As a taxpayer and employer, that housing opportunity was a significant part of my present ability to financially contribute to both my community and state.”