Overview
President Joe Biden and HUD Secretary Marcia L. Fudge released today their full fiscal year (FY) 2024 budget request. The proposal calls for increased funding for affordable housing using two approaches: modest funding increases to HUD programs using the regular appropriations process, and major investments in housing through mandatory spending. While an important marker of the level of investments needed to address the nation’s housing crisis, the mandatory spending proposal will not gain the bipartisan support needed for enactment in the current Congress. If enacted, the budget request would provide substantial federal investments in affordable homes and increase the availability of housing assistance to families with the greatest needs. For more details, see NLIHC's updated budget chart.
Through its mandatory spending proposal, the president’s request calls for significant investments to address the housing needs of extremely low-income households. The budget request builds on the success of the Emergency Rental Assistance program, which kept millions of renters stably housed during the pandemic, by providing $3 billion in new resources for eviction prevention. The proposal also expands access to rental assistance by providing $9 billion to ensure universal coverage to all youth aging out of foster care and $13 billion to serve extremely low-income veterans. According to the White House, the new resources for homeless veterans and youth are a “historic down payment on the president’s goal of providing universal housing vouchers for low-income households.” Additional mandatory funding is provided to address the capital needs of the most distressed public housing properties nationwide ($7.5 billion) and expand the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit and project-based rental assistance ($7.5 billion).
Through the regular appropriations process, the president’s budget calls for funding HUD programs at $73.3 billion, or approximately $1.1 billion – or 1.6% – more than the FY23-enacted level. The proposal calls for $32.7 billion to renew all existing housing vouchers and to expand assistance to an additional 50,000 households through increased funding and another 130,000 households through program reserves.
The president’s budget requests increased investments to address homelessness and to preserve and increase the supply of affordable housing. An additional $116 million would be provided to boost funding for Homeless Assistance Grants to $3.7 billion, compared to FY23. Capital funding to preserve public housing would increase by $330 million compared to FY23, for a total of $3.71 billion. The president’s budget seeks to expand the HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) by $300 million to a total of $1.8 billion.
Several HUD programs would receive modest increases or level funding. The president’s budget would increase funding for Community Development Block Grants by $100 million above FY23 levels to $3.4 billion. Housing for Persons with AIDs ($505 million) and Fair Housing ($90 million) would receive slight increases. Tribal housing programs ($1 billion) and the Healthy Homes programs ($410 million) would receive level funding.
The release of the president’s budget request marks the official start of the FY24 appropriations cycle. In the coming months, the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate will start drafting their own FY24 spending proposals.
This year, Congressional Republicans are threatening to make drastic cuts to federal spending in FY24 – including funding for vital housing and homelessness resources – in exchange for raising the debt ceiling or avoiding a government shutdown. Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) has proposed capping FY24 spending at FY22 levels, which would result in an estimated $130 billion in budget cuts from non-defense programs. Some Republicans are considering a budget outline that would slash housing programs by as much as 43% and eliminate the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program, a critical tool that helps millions of households with the lowest incomes afford rent and avoid homelessness. While Congressional leaders are far from finalizing the FY24 budget, the budget threats are deeply concerning.
Advocates should contact their members of Congress and educate them on how budget cuts will harm their neighbors and communities.
Take Action
It is unacceptable to balance the federal budget by demanding cuts to programs that help the lowest-income households survive. Without adequate funding for vital federal affordable housing and homeless assistance programs, households with the lowest incomes will continue to live precariously, only one missed paycheck or unexpected emergency away from housing instability, eviction, and, in the worst cases, homelessness.
- Sign your organization on to the Campaign for Housing and Community Development Funding’s (CHCDF) annual budget letter, calling on Congress to reject spending cuts and instead provide the highest possible allocation for HUD’s and USDA’s affordable housing, homelessness, and community development programs in FY24.
- Email your members of Congress today and urge them to increase – not cut – resources for affordable housing and homelessness in FY24.
- Use NLIHC’s advocacy toolkit, “Oppose Dramatic Cuts to Federal Investments in Affordable Housing,” for talking points, sample social media messages, and ideas about other ways to get involved!
Detailed Analysis
New Mandatory Funding
The president’s budget request calls for significant investments in affordable housing through mandatory spending.
Notably, the president’s budget request builds on the tremendous success of the Emergency Rental Assistance program, which kept millions of renters stably housed during the pandemic. The budget request would provide $3 billion in funds “focused on upstream prevention and eviction diversion, improving renters’ access to resources, and making the legal process for renters fairer,” and the funds could be used to provide emergency rental assistance and expand access to legal counsel, housing counselors, and court navigators, among other uses.
The budget request also includes mandatory funding to expand access to rental assistance for youth aging out of foster care and extremely low-income veterans. The budget provides $9 billion to establish a housing voucher program for all 20,000 youth aging out of foster care annually, as well as $13 billion to expand rental assistance for extremely low-income veteran families, “paving a path to guaranteed assistance for all who have served the Nation and are in need.”
The president’s proposal includes $7.5 billion in mandatory funding to address the capital needs of the most distressed public housing properties nationwide.
The budget request also calls for $51 billion in additional Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC), a new Neighborhood Homes Tax Credit, and mandatory funding for new project-based rental assistance contracts to increase the development of affordable homes, including units affordable to extremely low-income families. The White House proposal would also repeal the qualified contract loophole that investors have used to avoid federal affordability requirements in the LIHTC program and clarifies the “right of first refusal” for nonprofit organizations.
Tenant-Based Rental Assistance
President Biden’s budget request proposes to increase funding for tenant-based rental assistance to $32.7 billion, which would be sufficient not only to ensure all contracts are fully renewed but to extend the availability of tenant-based rental assistance to 50,000 additional households in need of voucher assistance. The proposal calls for expanding assistance to an additional 130,000 households through program reserves. Funding for Housing Choice Vouchers includes $50 million for the Rental Assistance Demonstration program.
The proposal allows the HUD Secretary to prioritize the additional rental assistance for those who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness or survivors of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, or human trafficking. The budget also proposes $25 million for mobility counseling services for HCV recipients to ensure they can use their vouchers in neighborhoods of their choice.
Public Housing
The budget request calls for $3.71 billion for the Public Housing Capital Fund, an increase of $330 million over FY23-enacted levels. This funding includes a $300 million set-aside for climate-related improvements to existing public housing stock.
Increased funding is required every year to provide housing agencies with additional resources needed to maintain services and make critical repairs that will improve living conditions for tens of thousands of residents. Our country’s public housing infrastructure currently has an estimated capital needs backlog of over $70 billion.
Homelessness
The president’s budget requests $3.7 billion for Homeless Assistance Grants, an increase of $116 million over the FY23-enacted level. This is expected to be enough funding to renew all existing Homeless Assistance Grants contracts and to expand the availability of assistance to an additional 25,000 households, with prioritization for individuals experiencing domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, or human trafficking, and for youth experiencing homelessness. These targeted resources would align with the goals set out in the administration’s recently released Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness.
Other Housing Programs
The bill would provide $1.023 billion for the Section 202 Housing for the Elderly program, a slight decrease of $52 million compared to FY23. The bill also provides $356 million for the Section 811 Housing for People with Disabilities program, $4 million less than FY23. Of the amounts provided, $258 million is set aside to support the construction of an additional 2,200 units of affordable, accessible housing for people in the Section 202 or Section 811 programs. At this time, there is not enough information to determine the amount of funding that would be made available for contract renewals for these programs. Because the cost of housing rises every year, it is vital to provide these programs with increased funding from one year to the next to maintain the current level of services and the number of households being served.
The budget request proposes $505 million for the Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) program, an increase of $6 million from FY23 allocations.
The request would provide $3.415 billion for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program, including $3.3 billion for formula funding. This amount would result in an increase of approximately $100 million from FY23-enacted levels, excluding the $2.98 billion in earmarked funding included in the final FY23 appropriations package. Of this amount, $85 million would be set aside for a competitive program to reward jurisdictions in removing barriers to affordable housing developments, such as restrictive zoning, and $10 billion would be dedicated as mandatory funding to further incentivize jurisdictions to make similar zoning and land use reforms.
The budget does not call for any additional funding for the Preservation and Reinvestment Initiative for Community Enhancement (PRICE) program, which was funded at $225 million in FY23. The PRICE program preserves and vitalizes manufactured housing communities, including through the support of resident-owned cooperatives.
The president’s request calls for a $300 million increase above FY23-enacted levels for the HOME Investment Partnerships Program, which would result in a total of $1.8 billion. Of this amount, $100 million would be set aside for a HOME down payment assistance pilot program to expand homeownership opportunities for first-generation and/or low-wealth first-time homebuyers.
The budget proposes $10 million in funding for an eviction-prevention program. This program, which extends legal services to renters, was funded at $20 million in the FY23 and FY22 budgets.
The request would help address housing conditions in tribal areas by providing overall funding of $1.053 billion for tribal housing programs, including $150 million for competitive funds targeted to tribes based on need and capacity. The HUD Secretary can further prioritizes projects that improve water or energy efficiency or increase climate or disaster resilience.
Healthy Housing
The request calls for $410 million – level funding from FY23 levels – to reduce lead-based paint and other health hazards and would provide an additional $25 million in funding to address lead-based paint in Public Housing.
Fair Housing
The budget request would increase funding by $4 million for HUD’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, for a total of $90 million.
Rural Housing
President Biden proposes an additional $283 million for the USDA’s multifamily housing programs.
Disaster Recovery
The budget request supports permanently authorizing the Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) program, the only source of federal long-term disaster recovery funds. While the CDBG-DR program has received over $42 billion in funding over the past five years, because the program is not permanently authorized, these vital resources are often delayed in reaching communities and households in need. NLIHC and its Disaster Housing Recovery Coalition (DHRC) of more than 890 local, state, and national organizations support the “Reforming Disaster Recovery Act”. If enacted, the bill would permanently authorize the CDBG-DR program and establish important safeguards and tools to help ensure this federal disaster recovery resource reaches all impacted households, including the lowest-income and historically marginalized survivors who are often hardest-hit by disasters and have the fewest resources to recover.
The president's budget requests $173 million for HUD’s Office of Community Planning and Development (CPD), including funds to hire permanent staff for CPD’s Office of Disaster Recovery (ODR), a new consolidated office for disaster mitigation funding at HUD under CPD’s Office of Grant Programs.
The budget request also includes $2.6 million for the creation of a Disaster Tracking System to enable HUD to better visualize disaster impacts on HUD-assisted families and properties across the United States, quickly identify resources such as alternative/temporary housing, and efficiently deploy those resources to mitigate the disasters’ impacts. The system will serve as the foundation for a HUD-wide disaster reporting system that shows all HUD-assisted families and properties in one dashboard for a coordinated, agency-wide approach to each disaster.
The budget requests $107.2 million for the Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, an $10.2 million increase. These funds will be used to support planned FHEO work, including around disaster recovery. FHEO is currently in the process of establishing sufficient protocols and resources to ensure front-end civil rights reviews are improved – including when reviewing long-term disaster recovery Action Plans for the distribution of billions of dollars of federal disaster funds.
For more information, contact Sarah Saadian, Senior Vice President of Public Policy and Field Outreach, at [email protected], or Kim Johnson, Public Policy Manager, at [email protected]