The House and Senate Committees on Appropriations prepared FY14 programmatic appropriations requests and held hearings on affordable housing programs during the week of April 15. At the beginning of April, Members of the House began circulating “dear colleague” sign-on letters in support of FY14 HUD and USDA budget requests (see Memo, 4/5). The House Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies subcommittee deadline for programmatic requests is April 22, and the House Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies subcommittee deadline was April 17. The Senate Committee on Appropriations programmatic request deadline is April 26 for the THUD and Agriculture subcommittees; several Senate “dear colleagues” are circulating currently. Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is circulating a letter in support of strong funding for the Rural Housing Service programs of the USDA. The deadline for Members to sign the letter is April 23.Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL) is circulating a letter in support of funding the HOPWA program at $335 million in FY14. The deadline to sign onto the letter is April 25. Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Chris Coons (D-DE) are circulating a letter in support of $1.2 billion for the HOME program. The deadline for Senators to sign on is April 23. Senator Leahy is also circulating a letter in support of funding the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) at $3.3 billion. Members can sign on until April 23. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) is supporting funding the Fair Housing consistent with the President’s request in FY14. The deadline for members to join his letter is April 22. Other letters are expected during the week of April 23.