Presidential budget blueprint released this week amidst bipartisan pushback
This week, the Trump Administration released its proposed FY18 budget blueprint titled “America First: A Budget Blueprint to Make America Great Again.” The proposal, which would affect funding levels for the fiscal year beginning September 30, 2017, seeks to offset a $54 billion increase in defense spending with deep cuts to other federal programs, including a 21% proposed cut to USDA and a 13% proposed cut to HUD, which would be insufficient to renew all rental assistance.
House Republicans pushed back on the proposal, with Appropriations Chairman Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-NJ) reminding that “Congress has the power of the purse. While the President may offer proposals, Congress must review both requests to assure the wise investment of taxpayer dollars.” His Democratic counterpart Ranking Member Nita Lowey (D-NY) released a report saying the budget cuts would “hurt community and infrastructure development,” “hurt rural America,” and “make families less financially secure.”
Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Thad Cochran said, “President Trump’s budget request underscores his commitment to make the nation more secure through increased defense and homeland security funding. I commend his focus on national security. I look forward to receiving additional details about the request, which will help the Congress in making final funding decisions. The House and Senate are making progress on resolving the outstanding issues with the remaining FY2017 appropriations bills. I encourage all Senators to work in good faith to complete our work on FY2017 appropriations before April 28.”
His counterpart, Senate Appropriations Vice Chair Patrick Leahy (D-VT), warned of the impact: “Proposing such draconian cuts constitutes a fundamental lack of understanding of the role such programs play in securing our nation, creating jobs (including in rural America), caring for our veterans, promoting Americans’ health and the environment, and helping our vulnerable citizens.”
THUD Subcommittee Chairwoman Susan Collins (R-ME) issued the following statement: “The proposed budget slashes funding for HUD by more than 13 percent. These cuts would be especially challenging to implement considering that 84 percent of HUD’s budget is spent on maintaining existing rental assistance for families, seniors, veterans, the disabled, and other vulnerable populations….As the appropriations process moves forward, I look forward to working with my colleagues to develop a revised budget.”
In response, White House budget director Mick Mulvaney defended the funding prioritization, saying “the message we’re sending to the Hill is we want more money for the things the President talked about, defense being the top one….And we don’t want to add to the budget deficit.”
The President’s budget request traditionally serves as a starting point from which lawmakers in Congress allocate funding for federal programs. “I’ve never seen a president’s budget proposal not revised substantially,” said Iowa Senator and Budget Committee member Chuck Grassley. A more detailed budget request is expected in May.
NAHMA strongly opposes the cuts to federal affordable housing programs. NAHMA will release another grassroots alert ahead of the April Congressional Recess to help members advocate in support of full funding for housing programs. To read our recent NAHMAnalysis on the President’s Budget Blueprint, please click here.
Senators Feinstein and Portman introduce bill expanding access to HUD homelessness programs
This week, Senators Portman (R-OH) and Feinstein (D-CA) introduced the ‘Homeless Children and Youth Act’ (S. 611), aiming to expand access to assistance programs and alleviate confusion between agencies. The bill would align the HUD definition for homelessness with the definition used to verify eligibility for other federal programs, such as the National School Lunch Program.
Representatives Stivers (R-OH) and Loebsack (D-IA) introduced companion legislation for the bill, which aims to overcome significant differences in homelessness data collection between federal agencies. According to Senator Portman’s press release, youth living in motels or with acquaintances could be recognized as homeless by HUD under the bill.
“The harmful effects of homelessness on children’s educational and emotional development are clear,” said Senator Feinstein. “Current federal policy creates significant barriers that prevent our most vulnerable children and families from accessing housing assistance and the support services they need to escape homelessness. Our bill would fix that.”
NAHMA will work with our committees to keep members up to date on the progress of this bipartisan bill.
Housing Subcommittee holds hearing with HUD Inspector General
This week, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development (THUD) held an oversight hearing with the Inspectors General of HUD and the Department of Transportation. In his opening statement, Ranking Democrat David Price (D-NC) said, “This oversight hearing is an important opportunity for us to examine the key challenges facing the Department of Transportation and HUD. Many of these issues are not new. For example, HUD has struggled to modernize its IT infrastructure and is facing ongoing challenges related to Human Capital Management.”
In his statement, HUD Inspector General David Montoya emphasized ten challenges, including financial management governance and systems, information technology security control, community planning and development programs, and public and assisted housing program administration. In addition to prioritization in the face of budget cuts, he recommended adjustments to the agency’s pay scale, IT infrastructure, and intra-agency structure.
To view the hearing, please click here.
Trump Administration moves forward with federal agency reorganization request
This week, the President signed an Executive Order titled “Comprehensive Plan for Reorganizing the Executive Branch.” The order requires heads of federal agencies to submit reorganization plans by mid-September, from which the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) will compile “recommendations to eliminate unnecessary agencies,” as well as to eliminate or merge components, programs, and functions of agencies. NAHMA will keep members up to date on the opportunity to submit public comment on the proposed OMB plan.