Since the release of President Biden’s fiscal year (FY) 2023 budget proposal (see Memo, 3/28), attempts to jumpstart negotiations on a final spending bill have stalled. Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Richard Shelby (R-AL) – chair and ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, respectively – and their counterparts, House Appropriations Chair Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) and Ranking Member Kay Granger (R-TX), had planned on meeting to begin debating topline funding numbers for FY23 defense and non-defense discretionary spending before Congress left DC on April 8 for a two-week recess. However, appropriations leaders are encountering the same roadblocks they faced during the FY22 appropriations process, which resulted in an almost six-month delay in enacting a FY22 spending bill. Senator Leahy has stated that he hopes to reach an agreement on funding levels by May, with the goal of holding committee reviews of the spending bills in the summer and enacting an FY23 spending bill before the new fiscal year begins on October 1. Appropriations leaders are reportedly planning on meeting to begin discussions in earnest after Congress returns from recess.
The FY23 bill presents Congress with the opportunity to make significant investments in affordable housing and community development programs, including in NLIHC’s top priorities for the appropriations bill:
- At least $32.13 billion for the Tenant-Based Rental Assistance (TBRA) program to renew all existing contracts and expand housing vouchers to an additional 200,000 households.
- Significant funding to preserve and operate public housing.
- At least $3.6 billion for HUD’s Homeless Assistance Grants program to address the needs of people experiencing homelessness.
- At least $300 million for the competitive tribal housing program, targeted to tribes with the greatest needs.
- At least $100 million for legal assistance to prevent evictions.
President Biden’s budget request is part of a larger effort by the Biden administration to invest in the country’s housing infrastructure. The housing investments proposed in last year’s “Build Back Better Act,” passed by the House in November 2021, call for $150 billion to address the country’s growing affordable housing crisis. Since stalling in the Senate, President Biden and Congressional Democrats are plotting a path forward to enacting a significantly scaled-down reconciliation bill.
As congressional leadership attempts to reconstruct and find a path forward for a reconciliation package, it is crucial that advocates continue to contact their members of Congress to urge them to retain historic, targeted investments in affordable housing in any reconciliation package, including:
- $25 billion to expand housing vouchers to more than 300,000 households.
- $65 billion to preserve public housing for its 2 million residents.
- $15 billion for the national Housing Trust Fund to build, preserve, and operate more than 150,000 units of affordable, accessible homes for households with the lowest incomes.
Bold federal investments in affordable housing are needed to address inflation, lower the cost of housing, and ensure everyone has a safe, stable place to call home.
Take Action!
Advocates should contact their senators and representatives to urge them to support the highest funding possible for affordable housing, homelessness, and community development programs in the FY23 spending bill and any budget reconciliation package.
FY23 Spending Bill
- Sign your organization on to a letter supporting the highest level of funding possible for affordable housing, homelessness, and community development resources in FY23.
- Contact your senators and representatives and urge them to support NLIHC’s top priorities in FY23, including:
- At least $32.13 billion for the Tenant-Based Rental Assistance (TBRA) program to renew all existing contracts and to expand housing vouchers to an additional 200,000 households.
- Significant funding to preserve and operate public housing.
- At least $3.6 billion for HUD’s Homeless Assistance Grants program to address the needs of people experiencing homelessness.
- At least $300 million for the competitive tribal housing program, targeted to tribes with the greatest needs.
- At least $100 million for legal assistance to prevent evictions.
Budget Reconciliation Bill
- Join over 1,800 organizations around the country in support of historic investments in rental assistance, public housing, and the Housing Trust Fund in any reconciliation bill that moves forward.
- Your members of Congress need to hear from you about why investments in rental assistance, public housing, and the Housing Trust Fund are critical to your community and why they must remain in any budget reconciliation package.
Thank you for your advocacy!