House narrowly passes Fiscal Year 2018 spending bills, puts pressure on Senate
In show of Republican unity, the House of Representatives this week advanced a $1.2 trillion spending package, including funding for HUD and USDA housing programs, for Fiscal Year 2018. The legislation passed narrowly and with only a single Democratic vote, but it marks the first time since 2009 that all twelve federal spending cleared the congressional Chamber on time. The move puts pressure on Senate leadership to produce similar results. However, this package does not represent a politically-feasible compromise with the Senate, specifically with the Senate Democrats who can block spending bills; the legislation will likely not be signed into law by the start of the new fiscal year on Oct. 1, 2017.
The move follows enactment of a short-term spending measure passed by Congress last week to keep the Government funded under FY2017 levels until December 8, 2017. This was short-term extension is intended to provide adequate time for Congress to reach a compromise.
HUD fills key leadership position and gains official nomination for FHA Commissioner
Yesterday, the U.S. Senate
confirmed Pamela Patenaude as HUD’s Deputy Secretary. The Senate’s 80-17 vote follows an industry
push to move the nomination forward during a critical time of disaster recovery.
As Deputy Secretary, Patenaude holds a key leadership and operational position within the department. Patenaude previously served as HUD’s Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development, where she provided leadership for recovery efforts following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. She recently served as president of the J. Ronald Terwilliger Foundation for Housing America’s Families.
Separately, the Trump Administration this week officially nominated Brian Montgomery as FHA Commissioner, as top position within HUD that he last held under George W. Bush. Montgomery, whose
nomination requires Senate confirmation, also previously assisted in HUD’s recovery efforts following Hurricane Katrina. He is currently the Vice Chairman of financial services consulting firm The Collingwood Group.
Government Accountability Office releases report on USDA Rental Assistance payment delays
Yesterday, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) published their
report, “Rural Housing Service: Additional Actions Would Help Ensure Reasonableness of Rental Assistance Estimates,” in response to RA underfunding problems in previous years: In fiscal years 2013–2015, RHS was unable to renew all its agreements because it ran out of funds, causing delays in some rental assistance payments. GAO was asked to examine the reasons why RHS ran out of funds and how RHS plans to improve its budget requests.
In the report, the GAO recommends that RHS develop plans for testing rental assistance estimation methods, develop estimation controls, create controls to ensure use of appropriate assumptions in budget requests, and provide guidance on reviews of rental assistance renewals. RHS did not provide comments on GAO’s recommendations.
The report is available on the NAHMA website
here, and a NAHMAnalysis will be available soon on the GAO report’s findings and policy implications.
