Althea Arnold

Senior Vice President, Policy

Althea Arnold leads the policy efforts at Stewards of Affordable Housing for the Future (SAHF)-- a national collaborative of 12 nonprofit affordable housing developers who own, operate and manage 149,000 affordable rental homes in 49 across the country. SAHF's mission-driven alliance advances resident-centered policy changes and sustainable solutions within the affordable housing sector. As part of this, Althea works with key policymakers in Congress, HUD, and other federal and state agencies to build support and remove barriers to the preservation and production of high-quality affordable rental housing. Althea joined SAHF as Senior Vice President, Policy in 2020. Prior to SAHF, she served as a Senior Legislative & Policy Associate at the National Council of State Housing Agencies, focusing on federal appropriations, HUD multifamily programs, and supportive housing issues. Earlier in her career Althea worked at the National Low Income Housing Coalition researching affordable housing needs to inform housing policy. Althea holds a Master’s degree in Public Policy from Georgetown University, with a concentration in nonprofit leadership, and a Bachelor of Art’s degree from Connecticut College. HFAi24 Sessions: Housing Credit Development Forum Industry Outlook AC23 Sessions: Managing Rising Multifamily Operating Costs Preservation of Housing for People with Special Needs HCC23 Sessions: HUD-Assisted Housing Forum, Part 1 HUD-Assisted Housing Forum, Part 2 HFAi23 Session: Industry Outlook AC22 Session: The Future of Senior Housing

Senate Appropriations Committee FY 2016 THUD Bill Virtually Eliminates HOME

Earlier today, the Senate Appropriations Committee voted 20 to 10 to pass the Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies funding bill. Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), and Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Brian Schatz (D-HI), and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) joined the Republican members of the Committee to report the bill for consideration by the full Senate. Full Committee consideration of the measure followed the Subcommittee mark-up on June 23.

House Financial Services Committee Considers How to Measure Success of HUD Programs

On June 11, the House Committee on Financial Services heard from HUD Secretary Julián Castro at a hearing titled “The Future of Housing in America: Oversight of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.” The hearing focused on oversight of HUD programs and how Congress might measure their success and efficacy.

Senator Boxer Leads Letter in Support of HOME and Housing Trust Fund

On June 5, Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and 30 other Senators (28 Democrats and two Independents) sent a letter to Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD) Appropriations Subcommittee Chair Susan Collins (R-ME) and Ranking Member Jack Reed (D-RI), to express support for both HOME and the Housing Trust Fund (HTF) and urge them to reject any effort to “reduce, divert, or eliminate funding from either program.”

House Passes FY 2016 Housing Appropriations Bill

On June 9, the House voted 216 to 210 in favor of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD) funding bill (H.R. 2577). The bill provides a total of $55.3 billion in discretionary spending for transportation and housing programs, but funding under the bill for housing programs falls $1.5 billion short of what HUD says it needs just to maintain current programs in FY 2016, and is $9.7 billion less than the Administration's Budget request.

House Appropriations Committee Passes FY 2016 THUD Bill

The House Appropriations Committee yesterday voted along party lines to pass the Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) funding bill. With the exception of a handful of successful amendments unrelated to housing programs, the bill is unchanged from the version the THUD Subcommittee reported April 29. Despite the small number of changes to the bill, several Committee members expressed frustration during the markup about the difficulty of providing adequate funding for programs in the Subcommittee’s jurisdiction because of the constraints of spending limitations imposed by the Budget Control Act of 2011 (BCA).

Worst-Case Housing Needs High Despite Short-Term Improvement

HUD recently released the full version of its Worst Case Housing Needs: 2015 Report to Congress following the release of its summary findings in early February. This is the 15th report in a biannual series that HUD prepares for Congress to discuss trends in and causes of worst case housing needs.

Congress Adopts Concurrent Resolution on FY 2016 Budget

For the first time in six years, both houses of Congress have adopted a concurrent budget resolution—the final product of negotiations between the Senate and House on their respective budget resolutions released earlier this spring. The Concurrent Resolution on the Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 Budget (S.Con.Res.11) outlines the chambers’ Republican policy priorities, aims to eliminate the deficit over the next decade with more than $5 trillion in spending cuts without raising taxes, adheres to the FY 2016 discretionary spending caps imposed by the Budget Control Act of 2011 (BCA), and includes procedural language that could be used to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

House FY 2016 THUD Bill Cuts Critical Housing Programs

Earlier today, the House Transportation-Housing and Urban Development (THUD) Appropriations Subcommittee held its mark-up of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 THUD funding bill. The bill provides $55.3 billion in discretionary spending for transportation and housing programs, but falls $1.5 billion short of what HUD says it needs just to maintain current programs in FY 2016 and is $9.7 billion less than the Administration's budget request.

Financial Services Subcommittee Considers Private Sector Participation in Affordable Housing

On April 16, the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance held a hearing on “The Future of Housing in America: Increasing Private Sector Participation in Affordable Housing”. The hearing focused broadly on HUD programs that have the potential to leverage private dollars and featured four witnesses: Adriane Todman, Executive Director at the District of Columbia Housing Authority (DCHA); Brad Fennell, Senior Vice President of Washington, DC area property management company WC Smith; James Evans, Director at Quadel Consulting Services; and Sheila Crowley, President and CEO at the National Low-Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC).

State HFAs Highlighted in TAC’s Report on Innovative Strategies in Financing ELI Units

On April 9, the Technical Assistance Collaborative (TAC) published Creating New Integrated Permanent Supportive Housing Opportunities for ELI Households: A Vision for the Future of the National Housing Trust Fund.