Congress will hold two hearings directly impacting HUD this week: one on President Donald Trump’s proposed FY18 budget for HUD and one on the nomination of Pam Patenaude to be HUD deputy secretary.
On Tuesday, June 6, the Senate Banking Committee will conduct a hearing on Mr. Trump’s nomination of Ms. Patenaude to be HUD deputy secretary. NLIHC issued a statement of support for Ms. Patenaude and urged the Senate to quickly confirm her nomination. “Ms. Patenaude is a strong leader with decades of experience cultivating bipartisan solutions to America’s affordable rental housing crisis,” stated NLIHC President and CEO Diane Yentel. “She has deep knowledge of, experience with and appreciation for the critical programs she will oversee.”
HUD Secretary Dr. Ben Carson will testify before the Senate Appropriations Transportation and HUD (THUD) Subcommittee on June 7 at 2:30 pm and again on June 8 at 10 am before the House Appropriations THUD Subcommittee on the administration’s FY18 budget. The president’s budget proposes to slash federal investments in affordable housing at HUD by 15%, or $7.4 billion, compared to FY17. The proposed cuts would mean more than 250,000 people could lose their housing vouchers. It would also impose punitive measures that would jeopardize family stability – increasing the financial burdens they face through higher rents and ending support to help cover the cost of basic utilities, like water and heat. The proposed budget would slash funding for public housing and many other vital programs and eliminate funding for the national Housing Trust Fund, the HOME Investment Partnerships program, and the Community Development Block Grants program. Ms. Yentel said in a statement that the president’s budget “reflects a cruel indifference to the millions of low income seniors, people with disabilities, families with children, veterans, and other vulnerable people who are struggling to keep a roof over their heads.”
Read Ms. Yentel’s statement of support for Ms. Patenaude’s nomination at: http://bit.ly/2rZJiXy
Read Ms. Yentel’s statement about the president’s FY18 budget request at: http://bit.ly/2qH9X73 her Point of View on the budget request at: http://bit.ly/2rIl80V
Read NLIHC’s detailed analysis of the president’s FY18 budget request at: http://bit.ly/2rwM9ae
See NLIHC’s updated budget chart of HUD programs at: http://bit.ly/1SowzjU