Continuing Resolution Passed; Government Shutdown Avoided
On September 30, a continuing resolution (CR) was passed by Congress which will provide funding for government programs through December 11, 2015.
With the passage of a CR, a government shutdown has been avoided. Initially, the Senate had tried to pass a CR with a provision to strip Planned Parenthood of its federal funding, but after this bill failed to pass, a CR without this controversial language was introduced. The “clean” CR passed the Senate with a recorded vote of 78 to 20 and passed the House with a recorded vote of 277 to 151.
President Obama and leadership from both parties have indicated that they are interested in striking a budget deal ahead of the new CR’s December deadline. NAHMA has been advocating for lawmakers to lift the harsh funding levels currently mandated by the Budget Control Act of 2011 (BCA). Some funding relief was partially achieved in the deal reached by former Budget Committee chairs Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) and Congressman Paul Ryan (R-WI), but the deal only lasted for fiscal years 2014 and 2015. A new budget deal is now needed.
Without a budget deal to lift the current spending caps, the outlook for affordable housing program funding is unclear. As mentioned in numerous NAHMA documents, the Project-Based Section 8 program will need at least a $1 billion increase over FY 2015 funding. This is due to the transition of all contracts to the calendar year model. In FY 2015, PBS8 received $9.73 billion but at least $10.8 billion will be necessary for PBS8 by January 1, 2016, the beginning of the calendar year funding cycle. Due to the tight budget restrictions, lawmakers cannot provide this level of funding without significant cuts to other programs – if they spend above the budget caps, then harsher cuts are automatically implemented.
A budget deal would also help in obtaining increased funding for Rural Development’s Section 521 Rental Assistance (RA) program. The RA portfolio is experiencing a crisis due to the agency’s mishandling of contract funding needs and from language present in the FY 2015 appropriations legislation which prevents projects which are out of funding from being renewed within the 12-month contract period. Fortunately, language was included in the recent CR which overturns this provision and will allow the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture to retroactively fund these contracts:
“SEC. 117. Amounts made available by section 101 for `Department of Agriculture–Rural Housing Service–Rental Assistance Program’ may be apportioned up to the rate for operations necessary to pay ongoing debt service for the multi-family direct loan programs under sections 514 and 515…Provided, That the Secretary may waive the prohibition in the second proviso under such heading in division A of Public Law 113-235 with respect to rental assistance contracts entered into or renewed during fiscal year 2015.”
NAHMA staff worked directly with appropriations committee staff to have this language included in the bill. Still, the RA program issues are not resolved. We will continue to work with agency staff and Congress to address the ongoing issues and reimbursement of property owners who have not received their RA.
NAHMA will also continue to advocate that lawmakers agree on a budget deal to lift the budget caps and fully fund all affordable housing programs. We ask that you participate in Grassroots Action Alerts as they are released, and that you engage your elected officials on full-funding all affordable housing programs in FY 2016 and beyond.