File: 
FY2013RuralHousingFundingLetter.pdf

Summary

  • November 30, 2011
     
    The Honorable Barack Obama
    President of the United States
    The White House
    Washington, DC 20500
     
    The Honorable Tom Vilsack
    Secretary
    U. S. Department of Agriculture
    Washington, DC 20250
     
    Dear Mr. President and Mr. Secretary:
     
    The undersigned organizations, representing a wide network of non-profit and for-profit corporations, local public agencies and others that use or support the USDA rural housing programs, are writing to urge you to propose FY 2013 funding for those programs at their FY 2011 appropriated levels or higher.
     
    The USDA housing programs serve a critical housing need in rural areas. Often providing the only decent, safe, sanitary and affordable shelter for very low- and low-income households, these programs create and preserve housing that maintains the vitality and economic stability of rural communities. Their continued support is essential.
     
    We strongly disagreed with your effort to eliminate or drastically reduce funding for USDA housing programs in 2012. We were distressed and shocked by OMB’s “Statement of Administration Policy,” sent to the Senate before its consideration of H.R. 2112, because it singled out only the USDA rural housing programs, out of the entire agriculture appropriations bill, for “additional savings from terminations and reductions.” We are pleased that Congress, on a bi-partisan basis, rejected those efforts when it passed H.R. 2112. We ask that you reconsider your position and maintain these programs in your FY 2013 budget.
     
    Specifically, we urge continuation of the Sec. 502 single family direct homeownership loan program that has helped over 2 million low- and moderate-income rural families become successful homeowners. Many of these families would have sought unsustainable subprime mortgages without the 502 direct program.  Moreover, the program is critical to maintaining rural jobs. Every 1,000 homes built with Sec. 502 loans create an estimated 3,000 jobs.
     
    We recognize that you have supported and that Congress has funded the Sec. 502 guaranteed loan program at a very high level. We do not oppose that support but we also know that the guaranteed program cannot be an effective substitute for the direct loan program. The two programs simply serve very different populations that are in urgent need of affordable housing.
     
    We urge you to propose funding of Sec. 515 rental housing at the level sought in your 2012 budget – and to include rental assistance funding at a level that can support the development of at least some new units. The preservation of the Sec. 515 rental housing stock is also extremely important. USDA’s Multifamily Preservation and Revitalization (MPR) program and the Preservation Revolving Loan Fund (PRLF) are small but innovative programs that are vital to the preservation of a large portion of the 430,000 Sec. 515 units. Section 515 serves a largely elderly and disabled population with an average household income of $11,100.
     
    Other USDA housing programs – for example, Sec. 523 self-help, Sec. 514/516 farm labor housing, Sec. 504 repair loans and grants, Sec. 533 preservation, and the Rural Community Development Initiative – are very small but highly effective. We hope that your FY 2013 budget will also continue funding for these programs at 2011 levels.
     
    We welcome the opportunity to meet with you to discuss rural housing. Thank you for considering our views.