Despite a March 14 deadline to reach a deal to fund the federal government, congressional leaders have turned their attention to a reconciliation and tax package they hope to enact within President Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office. Appropriations leaders have voiced concerns about the approach, with House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations Chair Tom Cole (R-OK) stating they were “starting to run out of time” to reach a funding agreement for fiscal year (FY) 2025.
The federal government is currently being funded by a continuing resolution (CR), which maintains the previous year’s level of funding for government programs for a specific period. The current CR is set to expire on March 14; without a final agreement in place, or another CR, there will be a partial shutdown of the federal government. Appropriators are operating under the additional constraints of the Budget Control Act of 2023, which limits increases to federal programs in FY24 and FY25 and mandates across-the-board cuts to the federal budget (known as “sequestration”) if a final agreement is not reached by April 30.
Despite the urgency, the House and Senate have yet to reach an agreement on topline funding levels, and the chambers’ draft bills are billions of dollars apart in their recommended funding levels. For HUD programs, the House proposes a $2.3 billion, or 3%, cut to HUD’s budget from the previous year, while the Senate would provide an $8.2 billion increase – an over 10% increase from the previous fiscal year. Even with the higher funding levels, the Senate bill is still expected to come up an estimated $800 million short of the full cost of voucher renewals.
Take Action!
Urge Congress to pass a final FY25 spending bill with increased funding for HUD’s affordable housing and homelessness programs
Insufficient funding, budget cuts, and long-term CRs have a devastating impact on affordable housing and homelessness assistance programs. CRs maintain spending levels from the previous fiscal year, but because the cost of affordable housing and homelessness assistance programs rises every year, increased annual funding for HUD programs is required to simply maintain the number of people served by these vital programs.
Advocates can use NLIHC’s resources to take action today and push Congress to pass increased funding for affordable housing and homelessness in FY25, including for NLIHC’s top priorities:
- Full funding to renew all existing contracts for the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program and expand assistance to 20,000 more households.
- $6.2 billion for public housing operations and $5.2 billion for public housing capital needs.
- $4.7 billion for HUD’s Homeless Assistance Grants (HAG) program.
- $100 million for the Eviction Protection Grant Program.
- At least $1.3 billion for Tribal housing programs, plus $150 million for competitive funds targeted to tribes with the greatest needs.
Use NLIHC’s toolkits and resources to take action on FY25 funding, including by:
- Emailing or calling members’ offices to tell them about the importance of affordable housing, homelessness, and community development resources to you, your family, your community, or your work. You can use NLIHC’s Take Action page to look up your member offices or call/send an email directly!
- Sharing stories of those directly impacted by homelessness and housing instability. Storytelling adds emotional weight to your message and can help lawmakers see how their policy decisions impact actual people. Learn about how to tell compelling stories with this resource.
- Using our “Oppose Dramatic Cuts to Federal Investments in Affordable Housing” toolkit: This toolkit includes resources, talking points, advocacy ideas, and other helpful information on defending funding for affordable housing and homelessness resources in the FY25 federal budget. Meet with your members and urge them to provide the most possible funding for these vital programs in any final FY25 budget agreement!
National, state, local, tribal, and territorial organizations can also join over 2,300 organizations on CHCDF’s national letter calling on Congress to support the highest level of funding possible for affordable housing, homelessness, and community development resources in FY25.