While negotiations on a topline spending agreement for a fiscal year (FY) 2025 spending bill have progressed, Senate Appropriations Vice Chair Patty Murray (D-WA) acknowledged yesterday that another short-term funding bill, known as a continuing resolution (CR), will likely be needed to extend the March 14 funding deadline and avoid a partial shutdown of the federal government.
Advocates should contact members of Congress TODAY and urge them to pass a final FY25 spending bill with increased funding for HUD’s affordable housing and homelessness programs!
Congress is almost five months behind in passing a final spending agreement for FY25 and has been relying on a series of CRs to extend funding for the federal government and avoid a government shutdown. The next CR deadline is March 14, at which point Congress will need to either pass a final spending bill, enact another CR to extend federal funding again, or face a partial shutdown of the federal government.
Congress is under additional pressure to reach an agreement by the end of April. Lawmakers are still operating under the terms of the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, which dictates that failure to enact final FY25 spending bills result in mandatory, across-the-board spending cuts, known as, “sequestration.”
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 maintain the number of people served by these vital programs. A recent analysis from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) shows that, under the House’s flat proposed funding level for Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) renewals in FY25, an estimated 328,800 fewer households would be served by the program. Steep funding cuts will diminish the abilities of housing providers to maintain current assistance, and some households would lose their vouchers.
Take Action
Urge Congress to pass a final FY25 spending bill with increased funding for HUD’s affordable housing and homelessness programs!
Advocates can use NLIHC’s resources to take action today and urge 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.
- $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 meaningful context to your message and can help lawmakers see how their policy decisions impact people and communities. 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.