Congressional leaders released on March 3 a final fiscal year (FY) 2024 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) spending bill that provides significant funding for HUD’s vital affordable housing and homelessness programs. Overall, the final spending bill provides HUD programs with $70 billion, which is $8.3 billion more than FY23-enacted levels. For more details on the FY24 spending bill, see NLIHC’s updated budget chart.
Despite tremendous funding challenges this year, the final FY24 budget provides a significant increase for HUD’s affordable housing and homelessness programs. This success is due to the hard work and tenacity of NLIHC’s national HoUSed campaign, advocates around the country, and champions in Congress – including Senators Brian Schatz (D-HI) and Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS) and Representatives Tom Cole (R-OK) and Mike Quigley (D-IL), the chairs and ranking members of the Senate and House THUD Appropriations Subcommittees, respectively.
Funding for domestic programs – including affordable housing and homelessness programs – was severely limited by the “Fiscal Responsibility Act” (FRA) enacted in June 2023. Under the budget deal, Congress and the White House agreed to cap overall spending for domestic programs at approximately FY23 levels and to limit spending increases in FY25 to only 1%, in exchange for raising the federal debt ceiling until 2025. Congressional leaders also negotiated a $69 billion side agreement to help bolster spending for domestic programs. At the same time, HUD’s budget for FY24 was under additional strain due to higher-than-expected renewal costs for vouchers, caused by the increased cost of rent in communities nationwide, and lower receipts from the Federal Housing Administration, which typically help offset the cost of HUD programs.
In a major win for NLIHC’s national HoUSed campaign, the final spending bill provides significant resources for the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program, which was funded at $32.4 billion, or a $2.1 billion increase over FY23-enacted levels. This funding level is higher than the levels proposed in either the House or Senate versions, which could have led to a loss of 80,000 to 112,000 housing vouchers, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. As a result of the higher funding level, there should be sufficient resources to renew all existing rental assistance contracts and expand rental assistance to an additional 3,000 households.
The bill also provides increased or level resources for the HoUSed campaign’s other top priorities:
- The Homeless Assistance Grants program was provided a $418 million increase in funding from FY23-enacted levels to a total of $4.05 billion.
- The Public Housing Capital Fund received $3.41 billion, or a modest increase of $30 million compared to last year’s levels, and the Public Housing Operating Fund received $5.5 billion, or $367 million more than in FY23.
- The Native American Housing Block Grant program received a funding increase of $324 million for a total of $1.1 billion in FY24.
- The Eviction Prevention Grant program was level-funded at $20 million.
While Project-Based Rental Assistance received an increase in funding compared to FY23 ($16 billion, or an increase of $1.1 billion), many other programs received level funding or slight increases, including Housing for Persons with AIDs ($505 million), Fair Housing programs ($86 million), Housing Counseling ($57.5), and Native Hawaiian Housing Block Grants ($22 million).
Other programs, unfortunately, received funding cuts in the new fiscal year, including the HOME Investment Partnerships Program ($1.25 billion, or a $250 million cut), Choice Neighborhoods ($75 million, or a $275 million cut), Section 202 Housing for the Elderly ($913 million, or a $162 million cut), Section 811 Housing for Persons with Disabilities ($208 million, or a $152 million cut), Policy Development and Research ($119 million, or a $26 million cut), and Healthy Homes ($345 million, or a $65 million cut).
Importantly, the final bill does not include any of the problematic policy riders proposed by House Republicans, including a provision proposed in the House version that would have made it more difficult for HUD to “implement, administer, or enforce” the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) rule. AFFH is a more than 50-year-old statutory requirement for recipients of HUD funding not only not to discriminate in how they use their funding but to actively address and undo systemic racism and segregation.
Despite the funding increases for HUD in FY24, far more investments are needed to address America’s growing affordable housing and homelessness crises. At current funding levels, only one in four eligible households receives housing assistance, leaving other households to struggle to keep a roof over their heads. Without large-scale, sustained federal investments in affordable housing, more people will experience housing insecurity and homelessness.
Congress has until March 8 to pass the final FY24 bill and send it to President Biden’s desk for his signature. Absent passing the final bill, Congress will need to enact another short-term continuing resolution (CR) to keep HUD programs funded or risk a partial government shutdown. Advocates should contact their representatives and senators to urge them to pass this final FY24 spending package as quickly as possible.
Detailed Analysis of FY24 Bill
Tenant-Based Rental Assistance
The bill provides a total of $32.4 billion for tenant-based rental assistance (TBRA), including $28.5 billion to renew previous contracts. Appropriators believe this funding level is sufficient to renew all existing voucher contracts – a major victory for advocates and congressional champions, as neither the House nor Senate draft proposal provided sufficient funding to fully renew voucher contracts. Because rents have increased substantially in many communities nationwide, the amount needed to renew all housing vouchers was significantly higher than last year.
The spending bill also expands vouchers to an additional 3,000 new households, including youth aging out of foster care and veterans at risk of or experiencing homelessness. The bill allocates $15 million in incremental vouchers to serve veterans and $7.5 million, or level funding, to serve Native American veterans. The bill provides $743 million for Section 811 mainstream vouchers – an increase from the $686 million provided in FY23 – and provides $30 million for Family Unification Program vouchers. To improve the speed and effectiveness of vouchers serving youth aging out of foster care, the bill streamlines the award process and authorizes the Secretary to waive certain requirements that are consistent obstacles to successful leasing.
Despite the increased funding, resources for rental assistance still fall far short of meeting the needs of people experiencing housing insecurity and homelessness; NLIHC’s national HoUSed campaign, our allies, and our champions on Capitol Hill will continue advocating for the large-scale, sustained investments required to ensure rental assistance is universally available to all eligible households.
Project-Based Rental Housing
The bill provides $16 billion to renew Project-Based Rental Assistance (PBRA) contracts, an increase of $1.1 billion from FY23 funding levels. Advocates estimate this amount will be sufficient to renew all contracts.
Public Housing
The bill provides the public housing capital account with $3.4 billion, a $30 million increase from the FY23 funding level and an amount higher than the levels proposed in the House or Senate bills. Housing agencies need additional resources 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 more than $70 billion; absent additional funding, public housing units will continue to fall into disrepair, exposing residents to potentially dangerous and unhealthy living conditions.
Funding to operate public housing increased by $367 million over FY23-enacted funding to $5.5 billion.
An additional $50 million was provided in the final spending bill for HUD to inspect and assess public housing. These funds can be used for travel, training, and program support.
The spending bill extends the Rental Assistance Demonstration for five years from 2024 to 2029.
Unfortunately, the bill directs HUD to extend agreements with 39 public housing agencies participating in the Moving to Work demonstration without giving HUD the ability to renegotiate the contracts. Under the demonstration, some public housing agencies use flexibilities to raise rents or impose rigid work requirements on low-income households.
Homelessness
The final spending bill increases funding for HUD’s Homeless Assistance Grants program to $4.05 billion – a $418 million increase from FY23 and a higher amount than proposed in either the House or Senate versions. The bill also provides $4.3 million to the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness. Increased resources to address the needs of people experiencing homelessness are critical, given the 12% increase in the number of people experiencing homelessness over the last year.
Of the amounts provided, $2.5 million is for direct technical assistance to communities that are leveraging other funds, like Medicaid, to connect individuals experiencing homelessness to housing-related services and behavioral healthcare.
Native Housing
The bill provides $1.1 billion for the Native American Housing Block Grant program, an increase of $324 million from FY23-enacted levels, and level funding ($150 million) for a competitive tribal housing program. Tribal programs received a historic level of assistance in the final spending bill to help Tribes address the dire housing needs of Indian Country, where residents are nearly twice as likely to live in poverty and nearly three times more likely to live in overcrowded conditions compared to other U.S. households.
The Native Hawaiian Housing Block Grant program is provided with level funding of $22 million in the FY24 bill.
Other Housing Programs
The bill provides $913 million to the Section 202 Housing for the Elderly program, a decrease of $162 million from FY23-enacted levels. The bill also decreases funding for the Section 811 Housing for People with Disabilities program to $208 million, which is $152 million less than was provided in FY23. This funding, however, should be sufficient to renew all current contracts.
The bill increases funding to the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program overall by $323 million, for a total of $6.72 billion. Within the CDBG program, funding for formula grants remained steady at $3.3 billion, though funding for earmarked projects increased by $308 million to total of $3.29 billion in FY24.
Of the amount provided for CDBG, $100 million is provided for a “Yes In My Back Yard” competitive grant program started in FY23 to encourage jurisdictions to adopt more inclusionary zoning practices. This funding level is $15 million more than the previous fiscal year. State and local zoning and land use laws and regulations that limit the number of homes that can be built are a significant contributor to the lack of housing supply and production. With these funds, Congress acknowledges the important role the federal government must play to encourage state and local efforts to reform zoning laws and to help jurisdictions increase their housing stock and lower housing costs.
The bill provides $1.25 billion for the HOME Investments Partnerships (HOME) program – a cut of $250 million from the previous year. This funding level will lead to the construction of more than 7,000 new rental and homebuyer units.
The bill provides $10 million for the Preservation and Reinvestment Initiative for Community Enhancement (PRICE) program, first funded in the FY23 appropriations bill. The new program provides grants to preserve and vitalize manufactured housing communities.
Funding for the Housing Opportunities for People with AIDS (HOPWA) program is increased to $505 million – $6 million more than was provided in FY23. The Choice Neighborhoods Initiative program, however, is funded at $75 million, a $275 million decrease compared to FY23-enacted levels.
The bill preserves the $20 million provided to HUD’s Eviction Prevention Grant program, which provides communities with funding for legal aid programs to prevent evictions.
The Family Self-Sufficiency program is funded at $141 million – a $16 million increase from FY23-enacted levels.
Healthy Homes
The bill allocates $345 million to the Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes’ grants, a decrease of $65 million from FY23.
Fair Housing
The bill includes $86 million in funding for HUD’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, level funding compared to FY23.
Other Provisions
The bill rescinds unobligated funds from various programs, including Healthy Housing ($65 million) and Public Housing ($20 million), to help offset the costs in the bill.
To reduce the number of duplicative property inspections that occur when a project is funded by multiple federal housing programs, the bill supports efforts to improve inspection standards while also ensuring coordination across federal housing programs.