The Campaign for Housing and Community Development Funding (CHCDF), a coalition of over 70 national housing and community development organizations led by NLIHC, sent on November 30 a letter to Senate Appropriations Chair Richard Shelby (R-AL) and Ranking Member Patrick Leahy (D-VT), as well as House Appropriations Chair Nita Lowey (D-NY) and Ranking Member Kay Granger (R-TX). The letter emphasizes the need for the highest allocation of discretionary funds possible for affordable housing and community development programs for fiscal year 2021 and urges Congress to maintain the exemption for Veteran Affairs (VA) healthcare funding from the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2019.
Because the cost of rent increases every year, affordable housing programs require annual increases in funding to maintain the number of households served. The coronavirus pandemic has placed unprecedented financial strain on affordable housing residents, Public and Tribal Housing Authorities, and owners and operators of federally assisted housing, who are in need of funding to maintain pre-pandemic levels of assistance and keep residents safe and healthy. Despite budgetary limits imposed by the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2019, both the House and Senate spending bills included increased funding for these vital programs, thanks in large part to Congress’s bipartisan decision to exempt $12.5 billion in VA healthcare funding from the budget caps. Despite the necessity of this decision, the Trump administration and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) recently demanded Congress rescind the exemption, which would result in a $7 billion cut to domestic spending programs for fiscal year 2021 at a time when states, communities, and individuals are struggling to make ends meet.
Read the letter at: https://tinyurl.com/y6hysdda