Affordable housing trust fund?  Meh.  Who needs it?!?!?!?!?!?!

FROM THE NATION LOW INCOME HOUSING COALITION

House Appropriations Bill Deeply Underfunds Housing Programs and Eviscerates the NHTF

Urge Your Representative to Oppose the Bill and Support Amendments that Protect the NHTF and Other Housing Programs

On May 13, the House Committee on Appropriations passed its FY16 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD) bill, H.R. 2577, by a party line vote. We expect the full House to consider the THUD bill this week. However, there is a chance consideration could be delayed until the week of June 8.

The bill drastically underfunds critical housing programs and includes many harmful provisions. Among these provisions, the bill:

• Directs ALL National Housing Trust Fund (NHTF) money into the HOME Program and forbids Congress from putting any other money into the NHTF.
• Cuts HOME to $767 million in FY16 from $900 million in FY15. HOME must be fully funded in addition to, not at the expense of, critically needed funding for the NHTF.
• Underfunds the public housing capital fund. The bill cuts the public housing capital fund by almost $200 million. At $1.681 billion for FY16, the capital fund is not sufficient to keep pace with even half of annual public housing capital needs.
• Potentially underfunds renewals for Project-Based Rental Assistance in 2016.

To view NLIHC’s updated budget chart, which further details the funding levels in the bill, click here.

TAKE ACTION

Contact your Representative and ask him or her to oppose the bill in its entirety. The bill’s inadequate funding levels are the direct result of the sequester spending caps, which must be replaced so that housing programs are sufficiently funded. Additionally, please urge your Representative to do the following:

OPPOSE amendments to:

• Prohibit HUD from administering the NHTF.
• Prohibit HUD from issuing and implementing a final Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule.
• Cut funding for housing programs.

SUPPORT any amendments to:

• Protect the NHTF.
• Increase funding for the HOME, public housing capital, healthy housing and lead hazard control, and Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly programs, which are all cut by H.R. 2577.
• Increase funding for vouchers, including funding to restore the 67,000 vouchers that were lost after the 2013 sequester cuts.
• Increase funding for the Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS program.

To find contact information for your Representative, call the Congressional switchboard at 877-210-5351, or click here.

Please email outreach@nlihc.org with any feedback you receive from your Representative’s office.