JACKSON (AP) — The nonprofits that oversee public housing on the Mississippi Gulf Coast want the ability to partner with private developers on projects to include higher-income residents.

A bill filed by Republican Sen. Billy Hewes of Gulfport would allow public housing authorities to establish for-profit subsidiary corporations. Supporters say the proposal gives the authorities the flexibility they need to offer mixed-income housing developments in areas devastated by Hurricane Katrina.

Mississippi Gulf Coast Housing Director Gerald Blessey said many residents cannot afford the area’s market rate on housing.

‘‘The public housing authority could take its portion of profits and subsidize low-income rentals,’’ Blessey said.

The federal government encourages housing authorities to create opportunities, but Mississippi law doesn’t allow it, said Bobby Hensley, executive director of the Biloxi Housing Authority.

State law only permits the authorities to participate in low-income housing, he said.

‘‘Rents have tripled since Hurricane Katrina,’’ Hensley said Thursday. ‘‘We need to pursue ways of making that money so that the money could be put back into the programs to help the low-income.’’

Housing authorities in other states have similar programs, he said.

But the Homebuilders Association of Mississippi is questioning the legislation, citing the surplus housing inventory that exists on the coast.

Marty Milstead, the association’s executive vice president, said as the bill is currently written, authorities could create as many for-profits as they wanted and provide housing for all income levels.

‘‘It sounds like they want to basically have a free pass to do whatever they want, which is outside of their mission,’’ Milstead said.

‘‘Even though they want to use this money to help affordable housing, if they’re using market rate housing, then there are certain risks involved in that. Like, if you build a house and don’t sell it. There’s a lot of inventory right now.’’

Milstead spent much of Thursday in meetings with Hewes and Senate Housing Committee Chairman Hillman Frazier, D-Jackson, to discuss the bill.

The Gulf Coast region has been in recovery mode since Katrina struck in August 2005. Thousands were left homeless, and few projects to benefit the low-income have been completed despite the hundreds of millions in federal dollars provided to the state.

The surplus in housing stock has been caused, in part, by the increase in insurance costs. Though many higher-income residents are able to buy a home, they cannot afford to insure it.

Linda Couch, deputy director of the National Low-Income Housing Coalition, said the bill reflects the ways housing authorities are trying ‘‘to survive in an era where federal funding for their projects is insufficient.’’

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The bill is Senate Bill 2303.