NLIHC is calling on advocates nationwide to contact their members of Congress and keep up the pressure to pass a final fiscal year (FY) 2024 spending bill that provides increased funding for HUD’s vital affordable housing and homelessness programs, including full funding to renew all existing Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) contracts.
Congressional leaders have until March 1 to reach an agreement on, draft, and pass a final FY24 funding bill for HUD. If they fail to do so, they will need to pass another short-term continuing resolution (CR) to extend government funding or risk a partial government shutdown.
Take Action
Congress needs to hear from you!
Advocates should contact their members of Congress and demand they help address the housing and homelessness crisis by enacting an FY24 spending bill with significant increases for affordable housing and homelessness programs, including NLIHC’s top priorities:
- Full funding to renew all existing contracts for the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program.
- Increased funding for public housing operations and repairs.
- At minimum, the Senate’s proposed $3.9 billion in funding for Homeless Assistance Grants.
- The protection of $20 million in funding for the Eviction Prevention Grant program provided in the Senate bill.
- The House’s proposed $1.1 billion in funding for Native Housing.
Advocates can continue to engage their members of Congress by:
- Emailing or calling members’ offices to tell them about the importance of affordable housing, homelessness, and community development resources to you, your family, your community, or your work. You can use NLIHC’s Take Action page to look up your member offices, or call/send an email directly!
- Using social media to amplify messages about the country’s affordable housing and homelessness crisis and the continued need for long-term solutions.
- Sharing stories of those directly impacted by homelessness and housing instability. Storytelling adds emotional weight to your message and can help lawmakers see how their policy decisions impact actual people. Learn about how to tell compelling stories with this resource.
National, state, local, tribal, and territorial organizations can also join over 2,200 organizations on the Campaign for Housing and Community Development Funding’s (CHCDF’s) national letter calling on Congress to support the highest level of funding possible for affordable housing, homelessness, and community development resources in FY24.
Background
Congressional leaders have reached a topline spending agreement for each of the 12 appropriations bills, including spending for Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD). While the spending levels are not publicly available, funding levels for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) were leaked and suggest that DHS will receive a significant spending boost in FY24 above what was proposed in the Senate’s draft bill.
The increased funding for DHS puts even more pressure on the already inadequate funding for HUD. As proposed, neither the House nor Senate draft THUD spending bills provide funding that is substantial enough to renew all existing HCV contracts: under the House bill, an estimated 112,000 vouchers would be lost upon turnover, while under the Senate bill, an estimated 80,000 vouchers would be lost.
The continuing debate over HUD funding is taking place against the backdrop of historically high rates of homelessness, and congressional action is needed now to help communities address this pervasive and growing crisis. The COVID-19 pandemic proved that, with action from Congress, the administration, and communities, homelessness is both solvable and preventable. Together, we have obtained extraordinary, historic resources for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness, and together we will continue to defend and expand these vital investments.
Thank you for your advocacy!