Congress, White House finalizing spending bills to avoid a government shutdown
This week both House and Senate Appropriations Committee staff began finalizing a bipartisan spending package, an omnibus, to avoid the shutdown deadline at the end of April. House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) stated, “We’re not going to have a government shutdown, the president doesn’t want to shut down the government.” Congress only has 8 legislative days left to pass legislation to fund the government for the rest of FY17. Congress is set to go on Easter recess from April 7-24, which leaves just a few days until April 28, the last day for which current funding expires.
Last week, NAHMA with other industry colleagues, met with House Appropriations Committee staff for an update on funding for FY17 and to express opposition to future cuts in FY18 on housing programs, as proposed in President’s Trump budget request. In addition, we sent a joint industry letter to members of the Senate Appropriations Committee this week to express similar concerns. NAHMA was encouraged to learn there was bi-partisan opposition in Congress to the funding cuts to critical programs, proposed the President’s budget, especially housing assistance. In addition, NAHMA was told Congress would be working to pass full-funding for HUD programs in FY17. We will be sending a grassroots advocacy alert early next week to encourage members to contact their lawmakers during the Easter recess period and advocate for full-funding of affordable housing programs for FY17 and FY18.
Agriculture Secretary Nominee clears Senate Agriculture Committee
Yesterday, the Senate Agriculture Committee approved Sonny Perdue’s nomination for Agriculture Secretary. Perdue’s nomination now heads to the full Senate for a final confirmation vote. The final confirmation faces some delay due to the confirmation battle over the Supreme Court nomination, which Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) stated would be finalized by next Friday, April 7. The Senate is on a two-week recess right after the date.