House Agriculture and Rural Development Appropriations Subcommittee Reports FY 2012 Appropriations Bill

UPDATE: On May 31, the House Appropriations Committee passed, by voice vote, the FY 2012 Agriculture and Rural Development Appropriations bill, H.R. 2112.  No amendments relating to rural housing were offered during the full committee markup.  It is expected the bill will be voted on by the full House before the August recess.

On May 24, the House Appropriations Agriculture and Rural Development Subcommittee marked up and passed its FY 2012 appropriations bill.  The Appropriations Committee markup of the bill is scheduled for later today and consideration of the bill on the House floor could occur before the August recess. 

The bill includes $846 million for the Section 502 single-family subsidized direct loan program, a $276 million decrease from FY 2011 and $634 million more than the President’s FY 2012 request.  It includes $24 billion for the Section 502 unsubsidized guaranteed loan program, the same as in FY 2011 and the President’s request.

The bill includes $59 million for the Section 515 rural rental housing program, $11 million less than in FY 2011 and $37 million less than the President’s request.  It does not provide funding for the Section 538 multifamily loan guarantee program, which was funded at $31 million in FY 2011.  However, the bill includes language that would allow the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to use in the Section 502 single-family guaranteed loan program the authority it currently has under the Section 538 program to authorize lenders to issue certificates of guarantee.  The bill and accompanying report do not contain additional details on this provision.  NCSHA will work with Congress and USDA to determine how this new authority would work if the language were to become law.  The President did not request funding for the Section 538 program for FY 2012.

The bill includes $11 million for the Section 542 rural housing voucher program, $3 million less than appropriated in FY 2011 and $5 million less than the President’s request.  The program provides vouchers for families living in Section 515-assisted properties whose owners prepay their mortgages.

Also on May 24, the House Appropriations Committee approved the spending limit for each of its 12 subcommittees for FY 2012.  The total spending level for the Agriculture and Rural Development Subcommittee is $17.25 billion, $2.7 billion less that the FY 2011 spending level and $5 billion less than the President’s FY 2012 request.  As reported in NCSHA’s May 13 blog, the total spending level for all programs within the jurisdiction of the Transportation-HUD Appropriations Subcommittee is $47.7 billion, $7.7 billion less than the FY 2011 spending level and $27.1 billion less than the President’s FY 2012 Budget request. 

The Agriculture and Rural Development Appropriations bill will be the third appropriations bill reported by the House Appropriations Committee, following the Military Construction/Veterans Affairs and Homeland Security Appropriations bills. 

The Transportation-HUD Subcommittee will determine the amount of funding for HUD and its individual programs between now and the Subcommittee markup, currently scheduled for July 14.  Now is the time to contact appropriators to stress the value of federal housing programs and the importance of protecting them from further cuts. 

Because the Senate has not yet considered an FY 2012 budget resolution, the Senate Appropriations Committee’s schedule is uncertain.  However, it is still timely and important to contact Senate appropriators on your spending priorities.