Government Reopens after Brief Shutdown
On Jan. 22, the U.S. Congress reached an agreement to reopen the government until February 8, 2018 under another temporary funding measure. The three-week Continuing Resolution (CR) was approved 81-18 in the Senate and 260-150 in the House.
The amended CR, which is the fourth stopgap spending bill enacted this fiscal year, continues federal funding at mostly 2017 levels until early February, buying legislators time to reach a deal on overall spending limits and a full- or two-year budget. In the meantime, the measure continues to extend the National Flood Insurance Program and allows HUD to adjust funding for PHAs to administer Housing Choice Vouchers in disaster-declared areas. The Children’s Health Insurance Program, another sticking point during negotiations, will be extended for 6 years under the measure.
House Passes Family Self Sufficiency (FSS) Act
On January 17, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Family Self Sufficiency Act (
H.R.4258) by a vote of 412 – 5. The bill, introduced by Reps. Sean Duffy (R-WI) and Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO), seeks to permanently reauthorize the Family Self Sufficiency (FSS) Act; combines the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) and the Public Housing FSS programs; and clarifies FSS eligibility to include families in HUD’s Project-Based Rental Assistance (PBRA) program.
According to
HUD, the FSS program “helps assisted housing residents increase their earnings and build financial assets. The program has two key features: 1. A financial incentive for residents to increase their earnings in the form of an escrow account that increases as residents’ earnings increase. The escrow account helps residents build savings that they can use to improve their quality of life and advance their personal goals. 2. Case management or coaching to help residents access services they may need to overcome barriers to employment, strengthen their financial capability, and address other challenges holding them back from achieving their goals.”
Currently, the FSS program is optional for owners of multifamily assisted housing developments and voluntary for residents. The bill now moves to the Senate, where similar bi-partisan
legislation has been introduced. The House-passed version, however, omits the Senate bill’s program funding authorization of $100 million per fiscal year for 2018-2022.
Congress Announces New Committee Assignments
This week, new Senate committee assignments were announced. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) was appointed to the Finance Committee, which oversees tax policy (including the LIHTC), and Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS) returns to the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, which has oversight jurisdiction for housing finance and HUD programs.
Similarly, House leadership announced new committee assignments, including the appointment of Rep. Darin LaHood (R-IL-18) to the Ways and Means Committee to replace the vacancy left by Rep. Pat Tiberi (R-OH-12), a former lead sponsor of the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act (H.R. 1661). Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-FL-26) is now lead sponsor on H.R. 1661. He is a member of the Ways and Means Committee and an original co-sponsor of the bill.
Mayors and Business Leaders Launch Affordable Housing Initiative
On. Jan 25, a bipartisan group of mayors and business leaders from around the nation announced a new initiative titled
Mayors & CEOs for U.S. Housing Investment. Mayors & CEOs for U.S. Housing Investment is a nonprofit coalition advocating for federal investment in affordable housing and homelessness services. As stated in their
press release, Mayors & CEOs for U.S. Housing Investment recommends four policy changes to help stabilize the current housing outlook:
- Maximize funding for existing federal programs that work, like Section 8 Housing Vouchers, Continuum of Care Homeless Assistance Grants, and Community Development Block Grants.
- Issue new, competitive HUD-HIIRO (Housing Innovation, Investment and Reform Opportunities) grants modeled after the Department of Transportation’s successful TIGER grants, designed for local communities to reward innovative thinking and collaborative, cross-sector projects to combat homelessness and affordable housing problems. These types of programs have proven to leverage local investment to provide strong social and economic returns.
- Build on the successful HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing model through HUD-PASS (Partnerships Accelerating Supportive Services), which would pair HUD vouchers with Health and Human Services programs to help families and individuals experiencing homelessness who have mental health issues and other barriers to assistance.
- Create a Housing Stabilization Fund – a pool of funds within HUD that can provide one-time, short-term emergency housing assistance to households below 80% of AMI. Funds would be initially allocated to communities by formula, and subsequently on a pro rata basis adjusted for performance. There are many low-income renter and owner households which, while generally able to afford their homes, still lack any cushion when faced with a housing emergency. For these households, the loss of a job or a health emergency can result in eviction and a downward spiral of housing instability that often ends in homelessness. Unfortunately, there is no consistent housing program, fund or tool to help prevent such losses.
USDA issues Rural Prosperity Task Force report
Earlier this month, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Sonny Perdue
provided a report from the
Task Force on Agriculture and Rural Prosperity to President Donald Trump.
Under the “Quality of Life”, affordable housing is included as a factor. The report states, “ensuring rural Americans can achieve a high quality of life is the foundation of prosperity. Quality of life is a measure of human well-being that can be identified through economic and social indicators. Modern utilities, affordable housing, efficient transportation and reliable employment are economic indicators that must be integrated with social indicators like access to medical services, public safety, education, and community resilience to empower rural communities to thrive. Focusing and delivering key federal reforms will enable rural Americans to flourish and prosper in 21st Century communities.”
Under “Innovate Options for Rural Housing”, the report recommends broad goals, including: “Develop a set of shared best practices for increasing homeownership, reducing homelessness in rural communities, and building robust community infrastructure. Such practices should include recommendations for federal, state, tribal and local action to strengthen investments in rural housing and provide technical assistance. The Task Force recommends options such as the Department of Housing & Urban Development, Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Agriculture, Department of Labor, and Department of Education jointly evaluating federal rural housing policies and programs, and targeting existing resources to best support sustainable housing in rural communities. To optimize rural housing options for the workforce needed in the current and future economies, private sector organizations’ resource deployment to rural areas can also be incentivized.”
