NCSHA Washington Report | September 26, 2025

Budget brinksmanship has become as regular an autumn tradition in Washington as back-to-school, but with a federal government shutdown now five days away, and neither party in any mood to compromise, this go-round feels different.

The last time things were this serious was 2018 – 19, during the first Trump Administration, when nine federal agencies closed for 35 days, the longest period ever. When it was all over, President Trump said this:

I want to thank all of the incredible federal workers, and their amazing families, who have shown such extraordinary devotion in the face of this recent hardship. You are fantastic people. You are incredible patriots. Many of you have suffered far greater than anyone, but your families would know or understand.

This week though, his White House budget office instructed federal agencies to prepare to initiate mass firings in the event of a shutdown, which according to Politico, “marked a significant break from how shutdowns have been handled in recent decades when most furloughs were temporary and employees were brought back once Congress voted to reopen government and funding was restored.”

In the runup to the last shutdown, agencies followed the longstanding practice of making available to the public their detailed contingency plans in the event they had to close for a period of time. “But earlier this year,” Government Executive reported, “OMB took down those plans. It has not yet restored them and OMB did not respond to multiple inquiries into their status.”

Some will remember that the very small number of HUD staff authorized to work through the last shutdown led to impacts “felt by all stakeholders involved in HUD’s portfolio,” according to a Nixon Peabody analysis. A skeleton staff this time would almost certainly be even more skeletal.

In 2019, President Trump had the main ask that complicated the passage of timely funding — more money for the U.S.–Mexico border wall — but while the Republicans controlled the Senate, Democrats had the House, and that dynamic forced the eventual compromise, in which the president got some of what he wanted.

This time, the Democrats have the complicating demands — continuation of healthcare tax credits and restoration of Medicaid funding — and the Republicans need to get only seven to drop them to pass the “clean” funding bill they want. One side seems to have almost all the leverage.

We should note the housing market is weaker today than it was in 2019, when home prices and mortgage interest rates were much lower and inflation was a distant memory. The deficit of affordable homes, the numbers of families facing severe housing cost burdens, and the persistence of homelessness are worse now than they were then as well.

One thing hasn’t changed though: voters overwhelmingly dislike this type of DC dysfunction. According to a new poll from the Peterson Foundation, 90 percent “want policymakers to work together to avoid a shutdown and focus on implementing solutions to our growing national debt.”

Stockton Williams | Executive Director

In This Issue

• NCSHA Welcomes New Members
• Sertich Named CalHFA Executive Director
• OMB Directs Federal Agencies to Prepare Workforce Reductions in Event of Shutdown
• HUD Reduces Multifamily Mortgage Insurance Premiums
• Treasury Announces New Conditions for CDFI Grants
• Carson Appointed Special USDA Advisor, Spokesperson
• CDFA Report Finds PAB Issuance Hit Record Highs in 2021 – 23; Multifamily Bond Issuance Reaches Highest Level in 2023
• NCSHA in the News
• Looking Ahead

NCSHA Welcomes New Members
These organizations joined NCSHA as Affiliate members in August and September: Bayard Management Group; First National Bank Alaska; Highbridge Community Development Corporation; Preferred Properties, Inc.; PruTech Solutions, Inc.; and Urban Group, Inc. If you have a partner who is interested in becoming a member, please contact membership@ncsha.org.

Sertich Named CalHFA Executive Director
Governor Gavin Newsom has appointed Tony Sertich executive director of the California Housing Finance Agency. Sertich returns to the agency after having most recently served as the assistant deputy director over the division of state financial assistance at the California Department of Housing and Community Development. Between 2005 and 2018, Sertich worked for CalHFA in roles including financing risk manager, director of multifamily programs, and director of enterprise risk management and compliance. Following his first tour at CalHFA, Sertich was State Controller Betty Yee’s top housing advisor, a role that included serving as the Controller’s designee on the boards of the California Debt Limit Allocation Committee and the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee.

OMB Directs Federal Agencies to Prepare Workforce Reductions in Event of Shutdown
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) sent federal agencies Wednesday a memorandum directing them to consider developing plans to reduce their workforces permanently if there is a government shutdown October 1, rather than furloughing all their non-essential employees as has been the standard practice when government funding lapses. The memorandum instructs agencies to design reduction-in-force plans for employees who work for programs that have no current funding and no outside funding source and that are “not consistent with the President’s priorities.” These staff cuts would be in addition to any temporary furloughs for other programs and employees not designated as essential. While agencies often develop and release publicly plans for maintaining essential operations in case of a shutdown, no such plans for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) or other agency programs are currently available.

The memorandum also says any personnel reductions made pursuant to it would be permanent, but “the additional steps outlined in this email will not be necessary” if a short-term continuing resolution funding the government is enacted by the September 30 end-of-fiscal-year deadline. The Senate rejected a House-passed continuing resolution and a Democratic alternative last week, and negotiations to develop a bill both sides can support do not appear to be occurring.

HUD Reduces Multifamily Mortgage Insurance Premiums
On Tuesday, the Federal Housing Administration’s (FHA) Office of Multifamily Housing Programs published a Federal Register notice announcing new premiums of 0.25 percent for several FHA multifamily mortgage insurance programs that currently have higher premium rates. The notice says this change is part of HUD’s steps to implement directives in a January 20 presidential memorandum, “Delivering Emergency Price Relief for American Families and Defeating the Cost-of-Living Crisis,” and President Trump’s Executive Order on Unleashing American Energy. The notice also confirms the elimination announced earlier this year of the Green and Energy Efficient Housing, Affordable Housing, and Broadly Affordable Housing premium rates established in 2016. Programs that already had 0.25 percent rates, including the FHA-HFA Risk-Sharing program, are unchanged. The new rates may be applied to FHA multifamily mortgage insurance applications submitted or amended on or after October 1, as long as the loan has not been initially endorsed.

Treasury Announces New Conditions for CDFI Grants
The Treasury Department yesterday published a notice imposing new requirements and conditions to federal funding for programs of community development financial institutions (CDFIs). In the notice, Treasury says activities to address climate change or target minority communities will not be eligible for funding. The notice also implements a supplemental notice of funding availability for previously submitted applications for the CDFI Fund’s Financial Assistance Program. CDFIs that previously applied for funding through this program for fiscal year 2025 will have until October 27 to submit supplemental applications that meet these new requirements. Treasury also revised the application for the Capital Magnet Fund to better target rural areas.

Carson Appointed Special USDA Advisor, Spokesperson
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Brooke Rollins announced Wednesday that former HUD Secretary Ben Carson was sworn in as National Advisor for Nutrition, Health, and Housing at USDA. In this role, Dr. Carson will advise Rollins and President Trump on nutrition, rural healthcare, and housing accessibility. He will serve as USDA’s chief spokesperson on these matters, join Rollins for her work on the president’s Make America Healthy Again Commission, and partner closely with USDA’s Rural Development Mission Area leadership.

CDFA Report Finds PAB Issuance Hit Record Highs in 2021 – 23; Multifamily Bond Issuance Reaches Highest Level in 2023
Private activity bond (PAB) issuance reached increasing record-high levels in 2021, 2022, and 2023, according to the Annual Volume Cap Report from the Council of Development Finance Agencies (CDFA). The report, released late last week, presents data on how states allocate and use their PAB authority each year. This year’s report covers years 2021 – 23, as CDFA last published the report in 2021. According to the report, total PAB issuance set a record in each of the three years, reaching $33.4 billion in 2023.

As in the previous eight years, housing bonds, including single-family mortgage revenue bonds (MRBs) and multifamily bonds, made up the bulk of PAB issuance in all three years. Housing bonds accounted for 92 percent of all PAB issuance in 2023. This was driven mostly by multifamily bond issuance, which increased 16 percent in 2021 to $19.9 billion, declined slightly in 2022, then surged to a new record high of $21.7 billion in 2023. Overall, multifamily bond issuance increased more than 200 percent from 2015 to 2023. MRB issuance also was up each year and increased nearly $2 billion from $7.43 billion in 2022 to $9.14 billion in 2023. Mortgage credit certificate issuance continued to decline each year, declining by more than two-thirds from 2015 to 2023.

CDFA projects PAB issuance will continue to increase as states face increasing demand for financing for affordable housing and other public needs. The report also finds a rising number of states’ PAB volume cap is oversubscribed.

NCSHA in the News
The Bond Buyer, 9.24.25, BABA requirements stifling housing

Looking Ahead

Legislative and Regulatory Activities

• September 26 | Comments Due | FHFA Notice on Repealing the Fair Lending, Fair Housing, and Equitable Housing Finance Plans Regulation
• October 15 | Comments Due to NCSHA | Federal Banking Regulators’ Request for Comment on Simplifying and Updating Community Reinvestment Act Regulations
• October 23 | Comments Due | Federal Banking Regulators’ Request for Comment on Simplifying and Updating Community Reinvestment Act Regulations

NCSHA, State HFA, and Industry Events

• September 28 – 30 | Housing Washington Conference | Bellevue, WA
• October 4 – 7 | NCSHA Annual Conference & Showplace | New Orleans
• October 4, 5:00 – 7:15 pm | Women’s Affordable Housing Network Happy Hour | The Jazz Playhouse, New Orleans
• October 13 – 15 | AppFolio FUTURE 2025 The Real Estate Conference | San Diego, CA
  Jennifer Schwartz will speak at this event.
• October 22 – 23 | AHTCC Fall Meeting | Washington, DC
  Jennifer Schwartz will speak at this event.
• October 22 – 24 | NAHMA Top Issues in Affordable Housing Conference | Washington, DC
  Jennifer Schwartz will speak at this event.
• October 23 – 24 | CLPHA Fall Meeting | Washington, DC
  Jennifer Schwartz will speak at this event.
• October 27 – 29 | Kansas Housing Conference | Overland Park, KS