President Biden released his budget request for fiscal year (FY) 2023 on March 28, signaling the official start of the FY2023 appropriations season. The budget would fund HUD programs at $71.9 billion – approximately $6.2 billion more than the final FY22 level – and would provide substantial federal investments in affordable homes while also increasing the availability of housing assistance to families with the greatest needs.
The budget request proposes to significantly increase access to Housing Choice Vouchers by calling for $32.1 billion to renew all existing housing vouchers and to expand assistance to an additional 200,000 households. If enacted, it would be the most significant expansion of housing vouchers in the program’s history and would put the nation on a path towards universal housing assistance for all eligible households.
The president’s budget also proposes significant investments to address homelessness and to preserve and increase the supply of affordable housing, including an 11% increase to HUD’s Homeless Assistance Grants program and $35 billion in mandatory funding for a new Housing Supply Fund, which would support housing for renters and homebuyers with low-to-moderate incomes. For more details, see NLIHC’s full analysis of the FY23 budget request and our updated budget chart.
As noted above, the release of the president’s budget request signals the official start of the FY23 appropriations season. Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Richard Shelby (R-AL) – chair and ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, respectively – are already holding high-level talks with House and Senate appropriations leaders, with the goal of reaching a topline spending agreement on defense and non-defense discretionary programs by May. The FY23 bill presents Congress with the opportunity to make significant investments in affordable housing and community development programs, including in NLIHC’s top priorities for the appropriations bill:
- At least $32.13 billion for the Tenant-Based Rental Assistance (TBRA) program, to renew all existing contracts and expand housing vouchers to an additional 200,000 households.
- Significant funding to preserve and operate public housing.
- At least $3.6 billion for HUD’s Homeless Assistance Grants program to address the needs of people experiencing homelessness.
- At least $300 million for the competitive tribal housing program, targeted to tribes with the greatest needs.
- At least $100 million for legal assistance to prevent evictions.
President Biden’s budget request is part of a larger effort by the Biden administration to invest in the country’s housing infrastructure. The housing investments proposed in last year’s “Build Back Better Act,” passed by the House in November 2021, call for $150 billion to address the country’s growing affordable housing crisis. Since stalling in the Senate, President Biden and congressional Democrats are plotting a path forward to enacting a significantly scaled-down reconciliation bill. The president met on March 30 with the Congressional Progressive Caucus and the New Democrat Coalition, with both groups offering insights on how they might restart negotiations.
As the new reconciliation package begins to take shape, it is crucial that advocates continue to contact their members of Congress to urge them to retain historic, targeted investments in affordable housing in any reconciliation package, including:
- $25 billion to expand housing vouchers to more than 300,000 households.
- $65 billion to preserve public housing for its 2 million residents.
- $15 billion for the national Housing Trust Fund to build, preserve, and operate more than 150,000 units of affordable, accessible homes for households with the lowest incomes.
Bold federal investments in affordable housing are needed to address inflation, lower the cost of housing, and ensure everyone has a safe, stable place to call home.
Take Action!
Advocates should contact their senators and representatives to urge them to support the highest funding possible for affordable housing, homelessness, and community development programs in the FY23 spending bill and any budget reconciliation package.
FY23 Spending Bill
- Sign your organization on to a letter supporting the highest level of funding possible for affordable housing, homelessness, and community development resources in FY23.
- Contact your senators and representatives and urge them to support NLIHC’s top priorities in FY23, including:
- At least $32.13 billion for the Tenant-Based Rental Assistance (TBRA) program, to renew all existing contracts and expand housing vouchers to an additional 200,000 households.
- Significant funding to preserve and operate public housing.
- At least $3.6 billion for HUD’s Homeless Assistance Grants program to address the needs of people experiencing homelessness.
- At least $300 million for the competitive tribal housing program, targeted to tribes with the greatest needs.
- At least $100 million for legal assistance to prevent evictions.
Budget Reconciliation Bill
- Join over 1,800 organizations around the country in support of historic investments in rental assistance, public housing, and the Housing Trust Fund in any reconciliation bill that moves forward.
- Your members of Congress need to hear from you about why investments in rental assistance, public housing, and the Housing Trust Fund are critical to your community and why they must remain in any budget reconciliation package.
Thank you for your advocacy!