Senate Advances Rural Housing Appropriations Bill

The full Senate Appropriations Committee voted to approve its draft FY18 U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) spending bill, including funding for Rural Housing programs, on July 20. While the text of the bill is not yet available, the Committee states on its website that the bill provides flat funding for rural development programs at the FY17 levels. This includes $1 billion for the Section 502 direct homeownership loan program, which provides low-income rural families with home loan assistance, and $1.345 billion for rental assistance.

The bill is expected to contain several policy riders, including language to reverse a decision by USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue and the Trump administration to eliminate the rural development undersecretary position, a move criticized by the National Rural Housing Coalition, NLIHC, and many others.

NLIHC will continue to monitor the spending bill as it heads to the Senate floor in the coming weeks. Stay tuned for more details.

Read about the draft Senate FY18 USDA spending bill at: http://bit.ly/2vFQMxl