U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations Republicans released on June 26 a proposal – written without bipartisan input – to cut funding for HUD programs in the fiscal year (FY) 2025 spending bill. Overall, the proposal would fund HUD at $73.2 billion – $2.3 billion, or about 3%, less than the previous year’s funding level. Congress must not balance the federal budget at the expense of people with the lowest incomes, who are already struggling to afford a place to call home. NLIHC calls on advocates nationwide to urge your representatives and senators to reject harmful spending cuts proposed by House Republicans and to instead expand investments in vital housing and homelessness programs!
Read NLIHC’s Analysis of the Proposal
Take Action
Congress needs to hear from you about how funding cuts would harm you and your family, neighbors, and community.
- Sign on to a national letter urging Congress to oppose budget cuts and instead to support the highest level of funding possible for affordable housing, homelessness, and community development resources in FY25. Nearly 2,300 organizations have already signed on to the letter from the Campaign for Housing and Community Development Funding (CHCDF).
- Urge your senators and representatives to expand – not cut – investments in affordable, accessible homes, including NLIHC’s top priorities:
- Full funding to renew all existing contracts for the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program and expand assistance to 20,000 more households.
- $6.2 billion for public housing operations and $5.2 billion for public housing capital needs.
- $4.7 billion for HUD’s Homeless Assistance Grants (HAG) program.
- $100 million for the Eviction Prevention Grant Program.
- At least $1.3 billion for Tribal housing programs, plus $150 million for competitive funds targeted to tribes with the greatest needs.
- Use NLIHC’s advocacy toolkit for talking points, sample social media messages, and more!
Background
At a time when more households are struggling to afford the cost of rent, and more people – including seniors and families with children – are experiencing homelessness, this proposal largely fails to provide resources at the scale needed to end the nation’s affordable housing and homelessness crisis and cuts key investments used by communities to address pressing housing needs. See NLIHC’s full analysis and updated budget chart for additional details.
While the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program would receive an increase of $115 million compared to the previous year’s funding level, bringing funding for the program to a total of $32.3 billion, this amount may not be sufficient to cover the full cost of renewals, which could leave even more households without the assistance they need to keep a roof over their heads. Advocates warn that this could lead to the loss of thousands of housing vouchers. The House proposal also rejects the President’s request for an additional $241 million in new vouchers, failing to expand the program to serve more households struggling to pay rent.
Several programs are eliminated in the House proposal, including the Choice Neighborhood program, Yes in My Backyard program, eviction defense resources, and Native Hawaiian Housing Block Grants.
Other programs would receive deep cuts: the Public Housing Operating Fund and Public Housing Capital Fund would see funding cuts of $380 million and $318 million, respectively, while funding for the HOME Investment Partnerships (HOME) program would be dramatically cut to $500 million – a 60% cut compared to the previous year’s funding.
Only a few programs would receive increased funding, including Native American Housing Block Grants ($1.22 billion), Homeless Assistance Grants ($4.06 billion), Project-Based Rental Assistance ($16.6 billion) and programs serving older adults ($931 million) and people with disabilities ($257 million).
Beyond spending provisions, the House proposal includes policy changes to undermine equal access to housing under the Fair Housing Act, tenant protections, and efforts to curb climate change.
The House Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) Subcommittee is scheduled to review and vote on the draft spending bill on June 27, with a full committee vote slated for July 10. The Senate is expected to release its spending bills in the coming weeks.
Thank you for your advocacy!