House Appropriations Committee Releases FY 2015 Funding Bill for HUD
On Tuesday, May 6, the House Appropriations Committee released its fiscal year 2015 funding bill for Transportation, Housing and Urban Development. The legislation includes a total of $40.3 billion for the HUD, a decrease of $769 million below the FY 2014 enacted level and $2 billion below the Obama Administration’s FY 2015 budget request.
Below is a chart comparing the numbers in this bill with the FY 2014 enacted level and the Administration’s budget request.
|
Project-Based Section 8 |
Tenant-Based Section 8 |
HOME |
Section 202 |
Section 811 |
Community Development Block Grant |
| FY 2015 House Draft T-HUD Bill |
$9.75 Billion* |
$19.35 Billion** |
$700 Million |
$420 Million*** |
$135 Million |
$3 Billion |
| FY 2015 Budget Request |
$9.75 Billion |
$20.05 Billion |
$950 Million |
$440 Million |
$160 Million |
$2.80 Billion |
| FY 2014 Enacted Level |
$9.92 Billion |
$19.18 Billion |
$1 Billion |
$383.5 Million |
$126 Million |
$3.03 Billion |
*Includes $210 million for PBCAs
** Includes $17.70 billion for contract renewals and $4billion in advanced appropriations
*** Includes $70 million for service coordinators
Although it is not mentioned in the language for Project-based Section 8, the House Appropriations Committee has apparently adopted the President’s request of a calendar year funding schedule for contract renewals beginning on January 1 rather than the current cycle of contract renewals beginning on October 1 (the first day of the new fiscal year). HUD and the Administration believe that a calendar year schedule will minimize funding disruptions that occur during end-of-year budget delays and that it would lead to consistent 12 month funding in FY 2016 and beyond. Under the transition to a calendar year schedule, HUD believes that they can gain a better understanding of the true need in the program, and that $9.75 billion will be sufficient to fund all contracts in FY 2015.
NAHMA is highly skeptical about the numbers adding up and the exact math that would be necessary to implement this proposal. The Department is aware that $11.9 billion is necessary to fully fund all contracts. The requested $9.75 billion is far below this amount and will likely lead to contract short-funding.
On May 7, the Appropriations Committee and its T-HUD Subcommittee held a markup on the bill. No amendments were introduced, nor was there any discussion of the Project-based Section 8 program. Some members of the Committee were critical of the significant cuts made to other housing programs – Ranking Member Nita Lowey (D-NY) criticized the $700 million pegged for HOME, stating that this is the lowest amount to be given to the program since its creation in 1992. Much of the discussion during the markup hearing focused on transportation programs.
This bill has yet to be formally introduced before the entire house of Representatives, and the Senate Appropriations Committee has yet to release its funding bill for HUD.
To view the House T-HUD bill, please
click here.
