Althea Arnold

Senior Vice President for Policy and Chief Operating Officer

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 145,000 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. HFAi25 Sessions: Maximizing Resident Outcomes and Financial Stability at Properties Industry Outlook AC24 Session: Preserving Existing Permanent Supportive Housing Properties 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

FHA Cuts Multifamily Insurance Rates for Affordable and Energy-Efficient Housing

On January 28, HUD announced that the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) will reduce its multifamily insurance rates to stimulate the production and rehabilitation of affordable rental housing. These rate reductions, effective April 1, will apply to the FHA-HFA Risk-Sharing program and other FHA multifamily housing programs that help finance properties housing low-income families and developments installing energy-efficient systems or building within federal energy guidelines. Multifamily insurance rates for financing of market-rate properties that are not energy efficient will remain unchanged.

FY 2016 Omnibus Spending Bill Increases HOME Funding

In the early hours of the morning on December 16, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI) unveiled the Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 omnibus spending bill, providing $1.1 trillion in funding for government operations, including funding for U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Housing Service programs.

Final Multiyear Transportation Bill Includes Housing Provisions

After months of deliberation both the House and Senate yesterday by wide margins passed multiyear transportation legislation—the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST). President Obama is expected to sign the bill before current authorization expires at the end of today.

House Passes Budget Deal Allowing Increased Discretionary Spending and Lifting Debt Limit

Last night, the House passed HR 1314, the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015, by a vote of 266 to 167. The yay votes included all 187 Democrats and 79 Republicans. The nay votes were all Republicans.

HOME Coalition Report and Briefing Raises HOME’s Profile in Congress

Earlier today, the HOME Coalition, which NCSHA chairs, unveiled its just-released report, Building HOME: The HOME Investment Partnerships Program’s Impact on America’s Families and Communities, at a briefing on the Hill for members of Congress and their staff. The first-of-its kind report analyzes HOME’s housing and economic impact at the national and state levels.

Rural Development Hearing Highlights Rental Assistance Contract Challenges

The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration and Related Agencies held a hearing titled “Review of Rural Development in 21st Century America” on October 21. Witnesses in the two-panel hearing included US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development (RD) officials and industry stakeholders. The hearing focused on RD programs including Rural Utilities Service and Rural Housing Services (RHS).

House Financial Services Subcommittee Chair Introduces Housing Assistance Reform Bill

House Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance Chairman Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO) introduced last week the Housing Opportunity through Modernization Act of 2015, H.R. 3700. The bill incorporates several previously proposed policy changes to improve HUD assistance programs that enjoy bipartisan support and are relatively noncontroversial. In his press release announcing the bill, Luetkemeyer states that “these reforms will help to put our nation’s housing programs on a path to maximize effectiveness and deliver more opportunity for both people in need and the organizations that serve them.”

Guest Post: Enterprise and JCHS Project Renter Burdens in 2025

Earlier today, Enterprise Community Partners and the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS) released Projecting Trends in Severely Cost-Burdened Renters: 2015–2025, which examines how demographic and economic trends over the next decade are likely to affect the near record number of renters with severe housing cost burdens—that is, paying more than half their income in rent.

House Financial Services Chairman Seeks Recommendations for Restructuring HUD and Improving the Delivery of Housing Resources

In commemoration of the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)’s 50th anniversary, House Financial Services Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) has issued a call for ideas to reform HUD and modernize the delivery of federal housing assistance. Hensarling argues that HUD has not lived up to the expectations set for the agency by President Lyndon Johnson when he created the department, stating, “instead of marshaling federal resources towards the goal of addressing America’s housing needs, HUD has come to symbolize the dashed hopes of the Great Society vision that mistook centralization for coordination and spending for compassion.”

HOME Coalition Organizes Nationwide Grassroots Effort to Save HOME

Over the past few weeks, the HOME Coalition -- led by the National Council of State Housing Agencies (NCSHA) --- has spread the word about the need to protect and restore funding for the HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME).