House T-HUD Bill Moves to Floor; Remains Unpassed
On June 3, 2015, the full House of Representative began deliberation H.R.2577, the House appropriations bill for transportation, housing and urban development (T-HUD) programs for fiscal year 2016. Amendment introduction, floor statements and further deliberation will continue in the House through Tuesday, June 9.
This is the T-HUD bill which previously passed the Appropriations Committee on May 13, 2015. H.R.2577 had passed the Committee on a party-line vote with few alterations or amendments. Democrats continue to oppose the stark funding levels in this and other appropriations bills, and pressure is mounting for Congress to agree on a bipartisan budget deal which will eliminate the threat of sequestration in 2016. In a statement of policy this week, President Obama has threatened to veto H.R.2577, should it pass, stating that “adhering to the congressional Republican budget’s overall spending limits for fiscal year (FY) 2016 would hurt our economy and shortchange investments in middleclass priorities.” This policy statement cited specific concerns with the funding levels for Housing programs like Housing Choice Vouchers (HCV) and HOME. However, the funding concerns for Project-Based Section 8 are not covered.
The Administration also wants Congress to eliminate the possibility of sequestration cuts for defense and non-defense priorities through a bipartisan budget agreement similar to the Murray-Ryan agreement from 2014.
Few amendments related to housing were introduced to H.R.2577 during its floor action, but Representative Scott Garrett (R-NJ) did have success with an amendment to prevent HUD from enforcing its Disparate Impact rule in another appropriations bill. He offered an amendment to the Commerce, Justice, and Science (CJS) FY 2016 Appropriations bill which would prohibit the Department of Justice from enforcing federal Fair Housing laws based on HUD’s Disparate Impact rule. The amendment was adopted and would be enacted into law should the CJS bill pass Congress and avoid a presidential veto.
NAHMA will continue to monitor the progress of H.R.2577, and will alert members should it pass the House. Meanwhile, the Senate has yet to release its draft T-HUD Appropriations bill for FY 2016, but it is expected to be released sometime next week.