The U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations released, reviewed, and passed out of committee by a 28-1 vote a fiscal year (FY) 2025 spending bill that would provide $78.2 billion for HUD’s vital affordable housing, homelessness, and community development programs in FY25 – a more than 10% increase from the previous fiscal year. Based on current projects, the proposal should provide sufficient funding to renew all existing Tenant-Based Rental Assistance (TBRA) contracts and provide increases or level funding for NLIHC’s policy priorities. For full details, see NLIHC’s full analysis and updated budget chart.
While appropriators are operating under the confines of the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 (FRA), which allows for an only 1% increase in federal spending in FY24 and FY25, Senate Appropriations Chair Patty Murray (D-WA) and Vice Chair Susan Collins (R-ME) reached a bipartisan agreement to boost spending above the restrictive FRA cap. Under the agreement, nondefense spending would receive an additional $13.5 billion in emergency funding beyond the FRA-allowed levels.
Thanks to the funding boost and the hard work of advocates across the country and our champions in Congress – including Chair Murray and Vice Chair Collins, THUD Subcommittee Chair Brian Schatz (D-HI) and Subcommittee Ranking Member Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), and their staffs – the Senate THUD bill provides vital funding increases for key HUD programs, particularly those responsible for getting or keeping people with the lowest incomes housed.
“The one percent increase in funding that the FRA provides for nondefense and defense alike in FY25 is simply inadequate,” said Chair Murray in a floor speech. “I have warned that if we don’t work to address the inadequate funding levels, we’re not simply looking at ‘treading water’. We’re looking at cuts to services people count on each and every day, and jeopardizing investments that keep our country strong – everything from [food assistance] and housing assistance to our investments in lifesaving medical research, and so much more.”
“I’m especially pleased [the bipartisan bills] deliver crucial new investments to help address the housing crisis, build more affordable housing, and keep families in their homes,” the Chairwoman noted in her opening remarks. Vice Chair Collins agreed, stating in her remarks the bill “maintains existing rental assistance for more than 4.5 million households, and continues to make meaningful investments aimed at tackling the problem of homelessness, especially for our nation’s veterans and youth.”
“This bill makes important investments to…address the housing crisis affecting so many people across the country,” said Subcommittee Chair Schatz. “The funding in this bill will help make homes more affordable, [and] reduce homelessness…importantly, this bill also makes record investments in Native housing, which will help Native people in Indian Country, Hawai’i, and Alaska buy and keep their homes.” Chair Schatz also called on his colleagues to pass a disaster funding bill, which would provide much needed assistance to disaster survivors and communities rebuilding in the wake of disasters.
“This bill ensures seniors, the disabled, and working families who are currently receiving [rental assistance] are not put at risk of homelessness,” said Subcommittee Ranking Member Hyde-Smith. “Additional investments are made to help put an end to veteran and youth homelessness, as well as to develop more permanent supportive housing.”
With the spending bill approved by the full Senate Appropriations Committee, the legislation will need to be considered by the full Senate. Despite this progress, lawmakers do not anticipate finalizing an FY25 spending bill before the current fiscal year ends on October 1; instead, it is widely expected that Congress will pass a short-term continuing resolution (CR) to maintain current levels of funding, at least until after the November elections.
The differences between the Senate and House proposals foreshadow what will likely be a lengthy and contentious appropriations fight. At a time when more households are struggling to afford the cost of rent, and more people – including seniors and families with children – are being pushed into homelessness, proposals that fail to provide the funding required to help address communities’ urgent affordable housing and homelessness needs threaten to exacerbate a growing crisis.
Moreover, the recent Supreme Court ruling in Grants Pass v. Johnson paves the way for jurisdictions to arrest and fine unhoused people for sleeping outside, even when adequate shelter or housing is not available. Underfunding the very resources that ensure people can find and maintain safe, stable, affordable, and accessible housing, while simultaneously criminalizing people experiencing homelessness for engaging in life-sustaining activities – like sleeping – in public, will result in local elected officials engaging in criminalization tactics that move people experiencing homelessness out of public view, rather than solving the root causes of homelessness. These decisions will disproportionately impact Black and brown people, people with disabilities, and members of the LGBTQ community, who are more likely to experience housing instability, homelessness, and incarceration.
Take Action: Tell Congress to Provide Significant Funding Increases for HUD in FY25
Your advocacy makes a difference! It is thanks to the hard work of advocates that in FY24 – at a time when programs faced cuts of up 25% – HUD received increased funding in the final spending bill.
Congress needs to keep hearing from you about the importance of affordable housing and homelessness programs! NLIHC is calling on Congress to provide the highest possible funding for HUD’s affordable housing and homelessness programs in FY25, including significant funding 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 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.
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!
- 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 NLIHC’s advocacy toolkit for talking points, sample social media messages, and more!
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.