The Senate Committee on Appropriations marked up its FY13 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies spending bill on April 26. The Rural Development title of this bill provides funding for the Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Rural Housing Service. The Agriculture Subcommittee did not hold a mark-up of a subcommittee bill, and instead proceeded straight to the full committee mark-up.  

The Senate Agriculture bill, S. 2375, would provide $20.785 billion for FY13, an increase over the FY12 level of $19.565 billion. The Rural Development title of the bill would receive $2.276 billion, to “effectively maintain loans and grants essential to small and remote rural communities,” according to the Committee press release. 

S. 2375 would provide $907 million for the Section 521 Rental Assistance Program, consistent with the President’s budget request and an increase of $2 million over FY12. Section 521 program funds have declined since FY10 when Rental Assistance was funded at $980 million. Of the funds that the Senate would provide in FY13, not less than $3 million would be set aside for new construction Section 514 and 516 units. In FY12, only $2.5 million was available for this purpose. The FY12 Agriculture appropriations bill included a minimum $1.5 million set-aside for newly constructed Section 515 units. S. 2375 does not include this set-aside.

The Senate Committee bill would fund the Section 515 Rental Housing Direct program at $28 million, a cut of approximately 57% from FY12. The Administration did not request any funding for this program in FY13, saying that it is focused on funding preservation, not new construction. In FY11 and several years prior, the Section 515 program was funded at $70 million. S. 2375 includes new language limiting the amount of funding that HUD may transfer from the Section 515 program to the Multi-Family Housing Revitalization Program to 50% of funds appropriated.

The Multi-Family Housing Revitalization Program would set aside $17 million for a demonstration program for preservation and revitalization of units in the Section 514, 515, and 516 programs. In FY12, only $2 million was set aside for this demonstration.

The Section 514 and Section 516 Farm Labor Housing programs would be funded at the level requested in the President’s budget, an increase over FY12 funding. The Senate would provide $26 million for the Section 514 program, a 24% increase over FY12 and level with FY11 funding. The Senate bill would fund the Section 516 program at $9 million, a $2 million increase over FY12. Funding for Section 516 has fluctuated in the range of $7 to $10 million since FY09.

The Senate Committee marked up its other FY13 housing appropriations bill, the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD) bill earlier in April (see Memo, 4/20). Senate leadership will now decide when to begin considering the FY13 appropriations bills on the Senate floor. The House Committee on Appropriations and its subcommittees have not yet marked up their FY13 THUD or Agriculture spending bills.