Senate Releases T-HUD Appropriations Bill Text
This week, the Senate Appropriations Committee issued the text for the Department of Transportation, Housing and Urban Development FY 2014 Appropriations Bill. Previously the Committee had issued a press release that provided some information on the figures listed in the bill; with the final text now released, we can compare the exact numbers from the Senate and House of Representatives:
|
Project Based Section 8 |
Housing Choice Vouchers |
HOME |
Section 202 |
Section 811 |
Community Development Block Grant |
| House Bill |
$9.45 billion |
$18.6 billion |
$700 million |
$375 million |
$126 million |
$1.6 billion |
| Senate Bill |
$10.8 billion |
$19.6 billion |
$1 billion |
$400 million |
$126 million |
$3.15 billion |
| Obama’s Request |
$10.27 billion |
$19.9 billion |
$950 million |
$400 million |
$126 million |
$2.8 billion |
| FY 2013 Pre-Sequester |
$9.39 billion |
$19 billion |
$1 billion |
$376 million |
$166 million |
$3.3 billion |
| FY 2013 Post-Sequester |
$8.851 billion |
$17.9 billion |
$948 million |
$355 million |
$262 million |
$3.135 billion |
The Senate’s bill would provide better funding levels for affordable housing programs, but their proposed appropriation for Project-Based Section 8 is still below the target number that NAHMA has been seeking. NAHMA believes that $11.5 billion will be necessary in order to secure full-funding for Section 8 contracts.
The Committee Report which accompanied this bill also acknowledges that $10.8 billion will still be insufficient for the program:
“The Committee has provided $500,000,000 more than the budget request [from the Obama Administration] to partially address the shortfall, but even at this level, a funding gap of $700,000,000 will remain in fiscal year 2014. The resources provided will require HUD to partially fund an estimated 390,000 units in fiscal year 2014.
For many years, PBRA was plagued by inadequate budgets that threatened the supply of affordable housing. Moreover, the policy of short-funding contracts devised to keep the program within budget jeopardized the Department’s credibility, created unnecessary administrative inefficiencies and reduced investor confidence. The Committee provided significant resources in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to address the shortfall and enable HUD to fully fund contracts. Sufficient resources have been provided each year since then, putting the program back on sound footing and restoring investor confidence. Unfortunately, the continuing resolution for fiscal year 2013 did not make adjustments to the budget necessary to fully fund existing contracts. Consequently, under the request, PBRA faces a $725,000,000 shortfall before factoring in sequestration. When combined with the impact of sequestration, the proposed program faces a $1,200,000,000 shortfall. While the Office of Multifamily Housing is implementing cost savings measures to help minimize disruptions to owners and tenants alike, the revenue that such steps are expected to generate in the next fiscal year are minimal compared to the magnitude of the overall shortfall problem.”
The Committee Report discusses the Section 202 appropriations as well, and it highlights the Elderly Project Rental Assistance Demonstration program specifically. The Report recommends an appropriation of $20 million for this program (this funding is not in addition to the $400 million for the entire Section 202 program). The Committee also “provides the authority to recapture residual receipts, collections, and other unobligated balances in this account”. HUD estimates that residual receipt collection will add another $26 million for the Demonstration program.
Also present in the text of the T-HUD Appropriations bill and in the Committee Report is the Senate’s interest in finding and establishing better policy in the Housing Choice Voucher program: “These reforms, which include serving more working poor, modifying utility allowances, streamlining inspections, and encouraging public housing authorities [PHAs] to form consortia, will result in direct savings or create efficiencies that will improve PHA productivity”. The budget request from the Obama Administration also included proposals for increased program efficiency. NAHMA is encouraged by these possibilities and we will closely follow any proposed legislation.
Senate’s Rural Housing Appropriations
The Senate has also approved the appropriations bill for Agriculture, Rural Development and the FDA, but it has only recently issued the actual text of this legislation. Below is a chart comparing the Senate’s appropriations for Rural Development with the appropriations proposed by the House, the Obama Administration, and the pre-sequestration level in FY 2013:
|
Section 515 |
Section 521 Rental Assistance |
Section 538 (Loan Level) |
Multifamily Housing Voucher |
| House Bill |
$28 million |
$1.01 billion |
$150 million |
$9.7 million |
| Senate Bill |
$28 million |
$1.01 billion |
$150 million |
$12.5 million |
| USDA’s Request |
$28 million |
$1 billion |
$150 million |
$12.6 million |
| FY 2013 Pre-Sequester |
$22 million |
$910 million |
$130 million |
$10 million |
As highlighted in previous NAHMA Grassroots Action Alerts and other communications, we are highly concerned about shortfalls in the Rural Rental Assistance program for the remainder of FY 2013. Specifically we are concerned with the agency’s announcement that there is insufficient funding to pay RA in September 2013. The Committee Report for the Senate Agriculture Appropriations bill demonstrates that legislators are also taking notice of this risky and unprecedented action:
“The Committee directs the Secretary to provide a report detailing: the total number of households served by rental assistance [RA]; the average per unit RA cost per State; the number of RA contracts expiring in fiscal year 2013 that were not renewed; the extraordinary servicing actions undertaken by Rural Development [RD] in fiscal year 2013 to address the RA shortfall; the costs of those servicing actions (i.e. reductions in project reserve accounts, etc.); the implications of these servicing actions on the credit quality of the loan portfolio and on the physical maintenance of the properties; the implications of these servicing actions on the project owners;
a revised estimate of RA needs in fiscal year 2014, to cover the original estimate of expiring units and those not renewed in fiscal year 2013 (emphasis added); the fiscal year 2014 inflation factor included in the estimate above; and in addition to the servicing actions undertaken by RD, what additional actions could and did property owners take to protect the financial integrity of the projects while also protecting current occupants from untenable rent increases.”
This report from Rural Development could further persuade legislators to draft a bill that would compensate housing providers who were not given Rental Assistance in the month of September.
To view the Senate T-HUD Appropriations Bill and the Committee Report,
please click here.
To view the Senate Agriculture, Rural Development and FDA Appropriations bill and Committee Report,
please click here.
