House and Senate Subcommittee Hearings on HUD’s FY24 Budget Request
This week, Secretary Marcia Fudge testified before the House of Representatives and Senate Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development (THUD) appropriations subcommittees on HUD’s fiscal year 2024 budget request. During his opening remarks, Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee, Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI), warned that HUD offsetting receipts are down $7 billion from last year and at an all-time low due to loan volume decreasing because of higher interest rates. He also mentioned the renewal of HUD rental assistance requires an increase of nearly $3 billion just to preserve existing units given rising market rate rents. During her testimony, Secretary Fudge highlighted the importance of the Housing Choice Voucher program, the HOME Investment Partnerships Program, the need to remove and mitigate the threats posed by dangerous health hazards like lead, carbon monoxide, radon and fire, improving energy efficiency and resilience, and HUD’s staffing needs. She also cautioned that the recent proposal to reduce HUD funding to FY22 enacted levels would result in the loss of thousands of vouchers and the cancellation of existing PBRA contracts with owners.
Chairman of the House subcommittee, Tom Cole (R-OK) voiced his opposition to short-term funding bills and asked the Secretary to describe the impact of relying on a continuing resolution that would keep government funded at current funding FY23 levels. Secretary Fudge stated that this would cause 125,000 families that currently receive federal assistance to lose their homes, lead to the elimination of services for approximately 32,000 people experiencing homelessness, and result in a shortfall of approximately $500 million in the renewal of PBRA contracts.
Addressing the need to create incentives for state and local governments to allow for the construction of more housing, several Senators urged the Secretary to remove HUD’s own barriers to new housing by streamlining administrative procedures, improving coordination between federal programs and reducing costs. Discussing the need for additional incentives for state and local governments to create additional housing, Secretary Fudge outlined HUD’s $85 million “Yes In My Backyard” competitive grant program aimed at zoning reform and reported that the availability of funding for grants would be announced soon.
Members discussed the to remove barriers and streamline burdensome regulatory requirements that prevent the construction of additional housing, especially related to physical inspections, and Chairman Schatz made the following statement: “My staff visited a new affordable housing development project in Colorado that used LIHTC and four different funding streams from HUD for gap financing. That project had to go through five different property inspections for each funding stream, four of which were from HUD itself. This is a huge waste of time and resources. I’m glad I see the Secretary jotting this down and something we can solve.”
The House and the Senate will continue to develop their own budget resolutions and appropriations packages in the coming weeks and months and NAHMA will continue to advocate for increased increase investments in affordable housing and community development programs.
To view the Senate hearing, click here. To view the House hearing, click here.
HUD Nominees Testify Before Senate Banking Committee
The Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs conducted a nomination hearing that included two key nominations for positions at HUD: Solomon Jeffrey Greene to be Assistant Secretary, Policy Development and Research, and David Uejio, to be Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity. Greene currently leads HUD’s Office of Policy Development and Research, which informs policy development, and Uejio serves as Acting Associate Director for supervision, enforcement, and fair lending at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). When asked by the Committees Ranking Member, Sen. Time Scott (S.C.), what barriers prevent the construction of new affordable housing, Greene stated, “In my experience, and I think based on the research, most of the barriers that impede the supply of housing are…overly restrictive state and local land use reforms.” During his testimony, Uejio described his concerns that access to housing is increasingly defined by algorithmically generated indicators, stating “In credit scoring and tenant screening, which themselves could bake in discrimination or exclusion in ways that are insidious and difficult to detect. And as Main Street communities across our nation grapple with how to meet their housing needs. Wall Street investors are eyeing those same neighborhoods for short term profits…if I were confirmed to leave the Office of Fair Housing at HUD, my principal Nexus would be between this phenomenon of decreased housing affordability, largely driven by a huge shortfall in supply and any implication of violation of the Fair Housing Act.” The Committee has yet to set a date for a confirmation vote.
To view the hearing, click here.
Sen. Scott Announces Framework for Renewing Opportunity in the American Dream (ROAD) to Housing Act
To mark the 55th anniversary of the Fair Housing Act’s enactment, Senator Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, announced his framework for the Renewing Opportunity in the American Dream (ROAD) to Housing Act. The ROAD to Housing Act would seek to ensure the households who utilize federal housing programs have greater access to tools which enhance financial literacy and improve economic opportunity, to encourage responsible innovation and allow for new approaches to ensure that communities, whether rural or urban, can meet the housing needs of their residents. The bill would seek to incentivize success by rewarding the efforts of housing and service providers or communities who actually reduce the number of individuals who are homeless. The ROAD Act would also support local public housing authorities by investing in solutions that deconcentrate poverty and enable families to access self-sufficiency, and review how overregulation contributes to excessive costs and delays in the supply of affordable housing.
To view the ROAD Act Framework, click here.