House Appropriations Committee Passes T-HUD Bill
On Tuesday, May 24, the House Appropriations Committee passed the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (T-HUD) appropriations bill for fiscal year 2017. The funding figures in the House T-HUD bill closely resemble the Senate’s T-HUD appropriation bill, which was passed on May 20. Below is a chart comparing these two funding bills with the FY 2016 enacted level:
| (Figures in million) |
FY 2017 Senate Bill |
FY 2017 House Bill |
FY 2016 Enacted |
| Tenant-Based Rental Assistance |
$20,431 |
$20,188 |
$19,628 |
| Contract Renewals |
[18,335] |
[18,311] |
[17,682] |
| Project-Based Rental Assistance |
$10,901 |
$10,901 |
$10,622 |
| Contract Renewals |
[10,501] |
[10,501] |
[10,407] |
| Contract Administrators |
[235] |
[235] |
[215] |
| Housing for the Elderly (Sec. 202) |
$505 |
$505 |
$432 |
| Service Coordinators |
[75] |
[75] |
[77] |
| Supportive Housing for Persons with Disabilities (Sec. 811) |
$154 |
$154 |
$150 |
| Community Development Grant |
$3,000 |
$3,000 |
$3,000 |
| HOME |
$950 |
$950 |
$950 |
In total, the bill reflects an allocation of $58.2 billion in discretionary spending for transportation and housing programs – an increase of $889 million above fiscal year 2016.
In a manager’s amendment attached to the bill, House Appropriations T-HUD Subcommittee Chairman Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL) provided special attention to young people exiting foster care:
“The Committee has been looking at barriers to permanent housing that youth face when exiting foster care. The Committee encourages HUD and PHAs to reevaluate their policies to ensure that youth exiting foster care transition to housing without experiencing homelessness. When eligible, these youth should receive consideration for tenant based rental assistance and other forms of permanent housing assistance. HIJD is directed to notify the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations if the provisions of this Act pose a barrier to providing such assistance.”
The amendment also took aim at the rising cost of rents in urban areas and ordered HUD to compile a study on how these changes effect low-income families, detailing best practices and recommendations to address the displacement of lower-income families and long-time residents in urban areas. The other amendments from this package focused on transportation programs.
NAHMA continues to support the increased funding over the FY 2016 enacted level. The House T-HUD bill will now advance to the floor for final votes. The Senate passed its T-HUD bill last week. After passage, the two chambers will have to reconcile the differences and compile a final version to be sent to President for signature into law. NAHMA will continue to monitor the progress of these bills and will update members when more progress is made.
Senate Agriculture Appropriations Bill
On Thursday, May 19, the Senate Agriculture, Rural Development Appropriations Subcommittee approved its fiscal year 2017 appropriations bill for agriculture, and Rural Development (RD) programs. The bill passed with a unanimous vote of 30-0.
Like the House Agriculture Appropriations bill released in April, the Senate bill provides strong increases for nearly all of the affordable housing programs administered by RD. Below is a chart comparing the Senate and House bills as well as the FY 2016 enacted level:
| Program ($ in millions) |
FY 2017 House Bill |
FY 2017 Senate Bill |
FY 2016 Enacted |
| Section 521 Rental Assistance |
$1,405 |
$1,405 |
$1,389 |
| Section 515 |
$35 |
$40 |
$28.398 |
| Multifamily Revitalization |
$40 |
$40 |
$37.0 |
| Rural Housing Vouchers |
[$18.0] |
[$18.0] |
[$15.0] |
| Section 538 Loan Level |
$200 |
$230 |
$150 |
Similar to the House bill, the Senate Agriculture Appropriations bill does not contain any language which would prevent a Section 521 Rental Assistance (RA) contract from being renewed with its one year term. It does contain language to recapture RA should a property receive more than is required.
Overall, NAHMA supports this bill and will advocate for its passage throughout the appropriations process. The bill will now head to the Senate floor for final votes.
Legislation Seeks to Expand Moving to Work Program
On April 29, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) introduced H.R. 5137, The Moving to Work Reformation and Expansion Act of 2016, which would remove the cap on the number of public housing agencies (PHAs) that may participate in Moving to Work (MTW) demonstration program and change the status of MTW from a demonstration to a full-fledged federal program.
Under the bill, HUD would be authorized to provide technical assistance to PHAs participating in MTW and housing reforms undertaken by other MTW participants would be evaluated in order to identify program models that could be replicated nationally. MTW has three statutory objectives, which include:
- Reducing costs and improving cost-efficiency for Federal dollars;
- Promoting residents’ economic independence; and
- Increasing housing choices for low-income families
Currently, 39 PHAs currently participate in the MTW demonstration; The FY 2016 THUD funding legislation expanded the MTW demonstration from these 39 to at least another 100 PHAs. However, H.R. 5137 would remove the participation cap altogether but would limit new participation in the program to 25 PHAs annually. In addition, at least 10 of these 25 PHAs that HUD approves for the MTW program each year must be smaller PHAs that have fewer than 6,000 public housing units and vouchers combined.
H.R. 5137 would require all participating PHAs to establish a hardship exemption process so that tenants who cannot participate in the new PHA programs will not lose their housing assistance and it would require an informal hearing or grievance process before evicting a household for failure to meet MTW requirements. The bill would continue to mandate the current practice of MTW agencies submitting annual reports to HUD indicating how public housing and voucher funds were used. It would further require that the annual report describe and analyze the effects of the PHA’s activities on the three statutory objectives of the program. An annual budget plan describing all new rules and policy changes and projecting the effect of these changes will also be required.
To date, the Moving to Work Reformation and Expansion Act of 2016 has gained 20 cosponsors, including 18 Republicans. NAHMA will monitor the progress of this legislation and will notify members if it advances in the House Financial Services Committee.
