Senate Appropriations Subcommittee Passes HUD Funding Bill, Cuts HOME to $1 Billion

This morning, the Senate Transportation-HUD Appropriations Subcommittee marked up and passed its FY 2012 T-HUD Appropriations bill.  The full Appropriations Committee is scheduled to mark up the bill tomorrow afternoon.  No amendments were offered during the Subcommittee markup and the bill text is not yet available.  The Subcommittee released a summary of the bill immediately following the markup. 

 

According to the summary, the bill would slash the HOME Investment Partnerships (HOME) program to $1 billion.  This is a $607 million, or 38 percent, cut compared to the FY 2011 enacted funding level of $1.6 billion and it is $200 million less than the level included in the House T-HUD Subcommittee-passed FY 2012 bill.

 

In her opening statement, Subcommittee Chairwoman Patty Murray (D-WA) emphasized that appropriators must cut spending in a responsible way and at the same time invest in the future and protect the most vulnerable.  She stated that the bill required difficult decisions, including making deep cuts to HOME, CDBG, and other programs she has long supported.  Ranking Member Susan Collins (R-ME) also stated that the bill focuses on the Committee’s responsibility to vulnerable people, such as homeless veterans.

 

The bill would restore some of the cut to the Housing Choice Voucher administrative fee proposed in the House bill by funding it at $1.4 billion—$47 million, or 3 percent, less than enacted in FY 2011 and $300 million more than the level included in the House bill.  It would fund Housing Choice Voucher renewals at $17.14 billion—$470 million, or 3 percent, more than enacted in FY 2011 and $96 million more than the level included in the House bill.

 

The bill would provide $9.4 billion for the Section 8 project-based rental assistance program—$166 million, or 2 percent, more than enacted in FY 2011 and equal to the level included in the House bill.  It would provide $2.85 billion for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program—$485 million, or 15 percent, less than enacted in FY 2011 and $651 million less than the level included in the House bill.

 

The bill would level fund homeless assistance grants at $1.9 billion, the same level of funding enacted in FY 2011 and included in the House bill.  It also would restore funding to HUD’s Housing Counseling program by providing $60 million.  HUD’s Housing Counseling program received no funding in FY 2011 and funding for the program was not included in the House bill.

 

The bill would fund the Choice Neighborhoods Initiative (CNI) at $120 million.  In FY 2011, CNI was funded at $65 million as a set-aside within the $100 million appropriated for the HOPE VI public housing revitalization program (HOPE VI).  The bill would also provide $90 million for the Sustainable Communities Initiative—$10 million, or 10 percent, less than enacted in FY 2011.  The House bill does not include funding for either CNI or HOPE VI or for the Sustainable Communities Initiative.

 

NCSHA will provide additional details on the Senate FY 2012 HUD funding bill following markup by the full Appropriations Committee and release of the bill text.  Additional information on the House T-HUD Subcommittee bill can be found in NCSHA’s September 9 blog.  The House Appropriations Committee has not yet scheduled a markup for the Subcommittee-passed bill.

 

With none of the FY 2012 appropriations bills completed and FY 2012 beginning on October 1, Congress plans to pass a continuing resolution (CR) this week to continue funding for all federally funded agencies and to allow it to continue working on individual appropriations bills and one or more longer-term omnibus appropriations bills funding multiple agencies.