After spending the week in recess, members of Congress have returned to Washington and will make crucial decisions about what to include in the overdue appropriations bill for fiscal year (FY) 2022 and the scaled-back “Build Back Better Act.” Both bills present opportunities to significantly expand affordable housing resources for households with the lowest incomes.
Leadership will soon make key decisions regarding the FY22 appropriations bill. The bill presents Congress with an opportunity to make immediate investments in affordable housing, including by expanding the Housing Choice Vouchers (HCVs) program to an additional 125,000 households with low incomes.
Meanwhile, leadership is continuing to discuss the future of the Build Back Better reconciliation legislation. The bill as passed by the House of Representatives proposes an historic $150 billion investment in affordable housing, including significant funding for NLIHC’s top priorities: $25 billion to expand rental assistance to an additional 300,000 households; $65 billion to preserve public housing for the nation’s almost 2 million public housing residents; and $15 billion for the national Housing Trust Fund to construct, preserve, and operate more than 150,000 new units of affordable, accessible housing for households with the lowest incomes. If enacted, these provisions would be the largest single investment in our country’s history in quality, affordable, accessible homes for the lowest-income people.
We cannot let Congress pass up these opportunities! Please contact your senators and representatives today and urge them to:
- Quickly enact an FY2022 spending bill with the highest possible funding for affordable housing and community development programs, including the expansion of HCVs to an additional 125,000 households.
- Ensure critical housing resources remain in any budget reconciliation bill.
Background
Members of Congress are working to enact an overdue FY22 appropriations bill. Appropriations leaders in the House and Senate announced on February 9 they had reached a bipartisan agreement on a “framework” for the spending package, but decisions are still being made about how to divvy up funding among the 12 appropriations subcommittees. The House appropriations subcommittee bill includes a significant expansion of the HCV program to an additional 125,000 households and would provide an additional $7 billion for HUD programs over FY21 enacted levels. The Senate appropriations subcommittee bill would provide almost $1 billion less to HUD and would not include an HCV expansion.
It is critical that advocates continue to urge members of Congress to protect and advance the historic affordable housing investments in the Build Back Better Act and the FY22 appropriations bill. As homelessness increases and millions of the lowest-income renters struggle to stay housed, we cannot let Congress miss these opportunities.
Take Action!
- Contact your members of Congress and urge them to quickly enact a final FY22 spending package with the highest possible funding for affordable housing and community development programs and to include the House’s proposal to expand Housing Choice Vouchers.
- Your members of Congress need to hear from you about why investments in rental assistance, public housing, and the Housing Trust Fund are essential to your community and why they must remain in any budget reconciliation package. Breaking housing investments off into a separate bill is unacceptable.
Thank you for your advocacy!