Overview
President Joe Biden and HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge’s full fiscal year (FY) 2022 budget request – released today (May 28) – proposes a $9 billion or 15% increase to HUD’s budget from FY21. The full budget request, which provides greater detail than the president’s “budget blueprint” released in April, would provide substantial federal investments in affordable homes and increase the availability of housing assistance to families with the greatest need. For full details, see NLIHC’s updated budget chart.
Overall, the budget request calls for expanding rental assistance through the Tenant Based Rental Assistance program to 200,000 additional households, focusing on those experiencing homelessness and survivors escaping domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, or human trafficking. If enacted, this provision would be the single largest expansion of vouchers in the program’s history. The request also proposes to increase funding for Homeless Assistance Grants by $500 million to $3.5 billion, to expand tribal housing resources from $747 million to $1 billion, to expand the HOME Investment Partnerships program by $500 million to $1.85 billion, to invest $180 million to support 2,000 new homes for seniors and people with disabilities, to increase fair housing activities by $12 million to $85 million, and to provide $800 million across HUD programs to rehabilitate public and affordable housing and provide energy-efficient upgrades, on top of $3.5 billion for public housing capital repairs and climate-resilient upgrades to the public housing stock. The proposal would also increase Community Development Block Grants by $295 million, with additional funds targeted to historically underfunded and marginalized communities facing persistent poverty.
The FY22 budget is the first annual spending bill in a decade that is not limited by the low spending caps required by the Budget Control Act that have prevented Congress from investing in affordable housing at the scale necessary.
With the release of the president’s full budget request, Congress will now begin drafting spending bills, including one focused on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) programs. The House appropriations subcommittees are expected to begin the process of voting on FY22 spending bills on June 24, with full committee votes held June 29 through July 16. Voting in the Senate is expected to begin the following month.
The budget request is part of a larger effort by the Biden administration to invest in the country’s housing infrastructure. The president’s $2.3 trillion “American Jobs Plan” calls for a $318 billion investment in affordable housing. Congress must work with the administration to expand investments in deeply affordable, accessible homes through both the FY22 spending bill and an infrastructure package, including the HoUSed campaign’s top priorities for the American Jobs Plan.
Advocates should continue to contact their senators and representatives to urge them to support the highest funding level possible for affordable housing, homelessness, and community development programs in the FY22 budget and any infrastructure/jobs package.
- Sign your organization to a letter supporting increased funding for affordable housing, homelessness, and community development resources.
- Sign the HoUSed campaign’s national letter calling on Congress to enact long-term solutions to the housing crisis.
- Contact your senators and representatives and urge them to support the HoUSed campaign’s top priorities for the American Jobs Plan.
Detailed Analysis
Tenant-Based Rental Assistance
President Biden proposed increasing funding for tenant-based rental assistance by $4.6 billion above FY21 levels to a total of $30.4 billion, which is sufficient to not only ensure all contracts are fully renewed but to extend the availability of tenant-based rental assistance to 200,000 additional households in need of voucher assistance. The expansion would be the single largest expansion in the program’s history. The proposal calls for prioritizing the additional rental assistance for those who are experiencing homeless or fleeing domestic violence. The proposal also includes funding for a new Mobility Related Social Services program to assist families in finding housing in higher-opportunity neighborhoods with access to jobs, services, schools, and other resources.
Project-Based Rental Assistance
The budget proposal would provide just over $14 billion to renew project-based rental assistance (PBRA) contracts, an increase of $595 million from FY21 funding levels. This amount would be sufficient to renew all existing PBRA contracts.
Homelessness Assistance
The president’s budget requests $3.5 billion for Homeless Assistance Grants, an increase of $500 million over the 2021 enacted level. This funding will support more than 100,000 additional households, including survivors of domestic violence and homeless youth, and will complement the $5 billion for emergency housing vouchers provided in the American Rescue Plan Act. Of this funding, $82 million is set-aside for additional Youth Homelessness Demonstration Programs (YHDPs).
Rehabilitation and Energy-Efficient Upgrades
The budget request calls for $800 million in new investments across HUD programs, including public housing and other HUD housing, for modernization and rehabilitation aimed at energy efficiency and resilience to climate-change impacts, such as increasingly frequent and severe floods.
Public Housing
The budget request calls for $3.5 billion for the public housing capital fund. This amount is $435 million above the FY21 enacted level and includes a $300 million set-aside for climate-related improvements to the existing public housing stock. The request would also fully cover public housing operating costs by providing approximately $4.9 billion, $23 million over FY21 enacted levels.
HOME Investment Partnerships
The president’s request calls for a $500 million increase above FY21 levels to the HOME Investment Partnerships Program, for a total of $1.85 billion. If enacted, this would be the highest funding level for HOME since 2009.
Community Development Block Grants
The request provides $3.8 billion for the Community Development Block Grant program. This is an increase of $295 million above FY21 levels. The proposal calls for these additional funds to be used to incentivize communities to “fund geographically targeted revitalization activities in communities that have been historically underserved by the Federal Government.”
Fair Housing
The budget request would increase funding by $12.5 million for HUD’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, for a total of $85 million.
Housing for the Elderly (Section 202)
The request includes $928 million to address Section 202 operating costs, $100 million of which would support construction of 1,100 new units of permanently affordable housing for older adults.
Housing for People with Disabilities (Section 811)
The president’s budget would fully fund Section 811 operating costs at $272 million, with $80 million of this to support the construction of 900 new units of permanently affordable, accessible housing for people with disabilities.
Tribal Housing
The request helps address housing conditions in tribal areas by providing $1 billion – compared to $747 million in FY21 – to fund tribal housing programs, including $723 million for formula NAHASDA programs and $100 million for competitive NAHASDA programs. The Native American Housing Block Grant program would receive $76 million in increased funding compared to FY21 enacted levels.
Healthy Housing
The request calls for $400 million, an increase of $40 million above FY21 levels, to reduce lead-based paint and other health hazards.
Other HUD Programs
The budget proposes $86 million for housing counseling, $8.4 million more than FY21 enacted levels, including a $20 million set-aside for an eviction-prevention program that would extend legal services to between 10,000 and 40,000 renters.
The budget would provide a slight decrease in funding for the Choice Neighborhoods grant program, $15 million under FY21 enacted levels. The Self-Help Homeownership Opportunity Program also received $10 million, level funding from FY21.
The administration also proposes increased funding for both the Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) program at $120 million and Jobs-Plus program at $20 million. Funding for the Housing Opportunities for People with AIDS (HOPWA) program would increase to $450 million, from $430 million in FY21.
Rural Rental Housing
President Biden proposes to expand rural housing grants and direct loan programs at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Section 521 Rural Rental Assistance would receive $1.45 billion, $75 million higher than FY21 enacted levels, and Section 542 vouchers would be funded at $45 million.
The budget also includes $77 million for the Multifamily Housing Preservation and Revitalization demonstration program, as well as $1.5 billion for the Section 502 Direct Homeownership Loans program, $38 million for Section 514/516 Farm Worker Housing Loans and Grants, $32 million for Section 523 Mutual and Self-Help Housing, and $58 million for Section 504 Rural Housing Assistance grants and loans.
Take Action
Take action today to support robust increases to affordable housing funding!
- Sign your organization to a letter supporting increased funding for affordable housing, homelessness, and community development resources.
- Sign the HoUSed campaign’s national letter calling on Congress to enact long-term solutions to the housing crisis.
- Contact your senators and representatives and urge them to support the HoUSed campaign’s top priorities for the American Jobs Plan.
For more information, contact:
Sarah Saadian, NLIHC’s Vice President of Public Policy, at: [email protected]
Kim Johnson, Policy Analyst, at: [email protected]
Xavier Arriaga, Policy Analyst, at: [email protected]