House passes budget deal to set overall spending limits, lift debt ceiling
After ongoing negotiations between Congressional leaders and the White House, the House this week passed a two year bipartisan budget deal before leaving town for their month-long recess. The White House-endorsed agreement would suspend the looming federal debt ceiling through July 31, 2021 and increase discretionary spending caps by $324 billion over two years.
The budget deal sets overall numbers for both domestic and defense spending in Fiscal Years 2020 and 2021, and if enacted, would pave the way for lawmakers to enact timely appropriations bills for HUD and USDA funding. The bill will now be sent to the Senate for a vote, where Majority Leader McConnell (R-KY) believes his chamber will clear it for the President’s signature.
The bill could mean good news for HUD and USDA affordable housing funding levels. The House has already passed their version of the FY20 spending bills with strong funding levels for housing and community development programs, while the Senate held off preparing their bills until they received the top-line budget deal numbers.
After the August Recess, Congress will be in session only a few weeks before the end of the fiscal year, leaving a small window for both chambers to come to a funding agreement. NAHMA members continue to advocate with their Senators and Representatives for robust investments in affordable housing programs and the crucial funding certainty that comes with full-year bills. Please reach out to NAHMA Government Affairs staff for assistance reaching out to your legislators on this important issue.
Senators introduce bill to require carbon monoxide detection in HUD and USDA assisted units
This week, Senators Tim Scott (R-SC) and Bob Menendez (D-NJ) introduced the “Carbon Monoxide Alarms Leading Every Resident to Safety Act” (CO ALERTS Act). While carbon monoxide detectors are not currently required in HUD-assisted housing, the agency recently issued a notice to urge the installation CO detection systems, as well as announcing that the agency would provide $5 million in grants to install CO alarms in assisted units.
According to the Senators’ press release, S. 2160 would require:
- Carbon monoxide alarms in units that have potential carbon monoxide sources like gas-fired appliances, fireplaces, forced air furnaces, and attached garages;
- Carbon monoxide alarms in rural housing, managed by USDA;
- HUD provide guidance to public housing agencies on how to educate tenants on health hazards in the home, including carbon monoxide poisoning and lead poisoning; and
- HUD, in consultation with the Consumer Product Safety Commission, conduct a public study on requiring carbon monoxide alarms in housing not covered by the IFC.
Approximately 50,000 people visit the emergency room annually due to carbon monoxide poisoning, with children, the elderly, and people with disabilities most at risk. A similar bill requiring carbon monoxide detectors in assisted housing and authorizing funding for installation and maintenance costs was unanimously approved by the House Financial Services Committee last month.
NAHMA joins discussion with HUD Secretary to examine the country’s housing needs
This week, NAHMA and our industry colleagues participated in a stakeholder event at HUD headquarters in Washington, D.C., to discuss trends in housing needs across the country. Following remarks by HUD Secretary Ben Carson and newly-confirmed Assistant Secretary Seth Appleton, the discussion moved to the “State of the Nation’s Housing,” an annual report published by the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies.
The discussion covered a variety of trends in housing cost burdens, labor and land cost increases, wages, and rental market solutions. Participants discussed federal, state, and community-level barriers to housing development and the path forward for combating nimby-ism and growing resident self-sufficiency. Audience questions addressed building momentum on homelessness solutions, ensuring strong federal funding levels, and leveraging opportunity zones.
Lawmakers introduced bill to ban facial recognition systems in assisted housing
Yesterday, Congresswomen Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), Yvette D. Clarke (D-NY), and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) announced legislation that would prohibit the use of biometric recognition technology in most HUD-funded public and assisted housing units.
The “No Biometric Barriers to Housing Act” (H.R. 4008) would prevent facial recognition technology from being installed in housing units that receive HUD funding. According to the sponsors’ bill fact sheet, the legislation would prohibit the use of biometric recognition technology in units funded by HUD and require the agency to submit a report to Congress that describes:
- Any known use of facial recognition technologies in public housing units,
- The impact of emerging technologies on tenants,
- The purpose of installing the technologies in the units,
- Demographic information of impacted tenants, and
- The impact of emerging technologies on vulnerable communities in public housing, including on tenant privacy, civil rights and fair housing.
The bill introduction comes as communities around the country move forward with facial recognition software in public spaces and assisted housing units, including a program launched by the Detroit Police Department in 2016. Critics of the technology have said that installing biometric scans, which allegedly misidentify minorities at higher rates, at a place of residence raises privacy and racial justice concerns, while proponents of the tech say it will offer residents convenience and safety while helping owners keep down costs.