There is growing consensus among lawmakers that Congress will not have the capacity to negotiate both a disaster aid package and a final spending agreement for fiscal year (FY) 2025. Rather, when lawmakers return to their offices on Capitol Hill on November 12, it is likely they will immediately turn their attention to negotiating a disaster aid package to help communities impacted by Hurricanes Helene and Milton.
Exactly how much funding the disaster recovery package will provide remains to be seen, with some estimating the package could provide $50 to $100 billion to impacted communities. The aid package is also expected to include another continuing resolution (CR) to extend funding for federal programs until February or March 2025, since the current CR will expire on December 20. CRs maintain level funding for federal programs for a specified period of time; however, because the costs of housing, homelessness, and community development programs rise every year, it is crucial that HUD’s programs receive increased funding each year to maintain the number of people served by these vital programs.
Take Action!
Join an organizational sign-on letter supporting the “Reforming Disaster Recovery Act”
The disaster aid package represents an opportunity for Congress to enact the “Reforming Disaster Recovery Act” (RDRA) into law. The RDRA – a priority for NLIHC’s Disaster Housing Recovery Coalition – is a bipartisan bill that would permanently authorize HUD’s Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) program, which provides states, tribes, and communities with flexible, long-term recovery resources needed to rebuild affordable housing and infrastructure after a disaster. The bill also provides important safeguards and tools to ensure federal disaster recovery efforts reach all impacted households, including the lowest-income and most marginalized survivors, who often hardest hit and have the fewest resources to recovery
Organizations can join over 500 other organizations from around the country on a sign-on letter from NLIHC, the National League of Cities, the National Association of Counties, and Enterprise calling on Congress to enact the RDRA
Urge Congress to pass a final FY25 spending bill with increased funding for HUD’s affordable housing and homelessness programs
Regardless of the timing of the disaster aid bill, Congress will need to enact a final FY25 spending bill to ensure federal programs – including HUD’s vital affordable housing and homelessness programs – receive increased funding in the coming year. Because the cost of housing and homelessness assistance rises every year, it is crucial that HUD receive increased funding every year to maintain the number of people served. Advocates can use NLIHC’s resources to take action today and push Congress to pass increased funding for affordable housing and homelessness in FY25, including for 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 Protection 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 toolkits and resources to take action on FY25 funding, including 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!
- 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.
- Using our “Oppose Dramatic Cuts to Federal Investments in Affordable Housing” toolkit: This toolkit includes resources, talking points, advocacy ideas, and other helpful information on defending funding for affordable housing and homelessness resources in the FY25 federal budget. Meet with your members and urge them to provide the most possible funding for these vital programs in any final FY25 budget agreement!
National, state, local, tribal, and territorial organizations can also join over 2,300 organizations on CHCDF’s national letter calling on Congress to support the highest level of funding possible for affordable housing, homelessness, and community development resources in FY25.