About 300 people are in the process of receiving housing vouchers under the federal subsidy program called Section 8, according to Hakim Ouansafi, who leads the Hawaii Public Housing Authority.

The agency processed housing vouchers for 200 people on Wednesday and Thursday, and plans to hand out a total of 300 vouchers. Many families have been waiting for vouchers since 2006, the last time the state’s Section 8 waitlist was opened.

The Section 8 program provides a subsidy that covers 70 percent of a tenant’s rent. But the vouchers don’t guarantee that the residents will find housing.

Many landlords discriminate against people with housing vouchers. The House Judiciary Committee is planning to consider a bill on Monday introduced by Rep. Karl Rhoads that would prohibit denying housing to a tenant based on their source of income.

“Renters who participate in government assistance programs, such as the federal Housing Choice Voucher program, also known as section 8 housing, should have an equal opportunity to find housing,” the bill’s preamble states.

Ouansafi said in a phone interview Thursday that the housing authority was able to re-open the waitlist by using reserve funds it had saved up over the past two years due to the threat of a government shutdown.

“These people are getting some hope,” Ouansafi said. “To me, that to me is what the housing authority is about: Hope.”