NLIHC encourages advocates from across the country to take action TODAY and contact their members of Congress to demand they reach an agreement on a “clean” continuing resolution (CR) to avoid a partial shutdown of the federal government. Without a CR, the federal government will shut down on October 1.
CRs maintain the previously appropriated year’s level of funding for federal programs for a specified period, giving lawmakers more time to reach an agreement on final spending bills for the upcoming fiscal year (FY). Leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate have tried for weeks to find an agreement on a CR, but procedural hurdles in the Senate – coupled with disarray and infighting among Republicans in the House – have repeatedly derailed progress.
While the impact of a government shutdown worsens the longer the shutdown lasts, even a short-term shutdown can have lasting consequences for HUD programs. Fortunately, because vouchers are funded by the calendar year and not the fiscal year, recipients of both Tenant-Based Rental Assistance (TBRA) and Project-Based Rental Assistance (PBRA) are not at risk of losing their assistance. However, because many HUD and public housing authority (PHA) personnel will be furloughed, services to tenants and properties will be extremely limited. Learn more about how a short-term shutdown impacts tenants of HUD-assisted housing and services for people experiencing homelessness.
Take Action!
While Congress must do its job and pass a CR that provides adequate funding for the continued operation of HUD programs, in the long-term lawmakers must also enact a final FY24 appropriations bill with significant increases for HUD’s affordable housing and homelessness assistance programs. Because the cost of housing and development rises every year, it is crucial that HUD’s affordable housing and homelessness assistance programs receive increased annual appropriations just to maintain the current number of people and communities served.
Without additional funding, people who rely on HUD’s programs for safe, stable housing will be in danger of losing their assistance. Advocates can use NLIHC’s Legislative Action Center to call or email their members of Congress and urge them to pass a clean CR and to expand – not cut – funding for HUD’s vital affordable housing and homelessness programs in the FY24 budget.
Keep making your voice heard, and tell Congress that it cannot balance the federal budget at the expense of people with the lowest incomes! Advocates can take action TODAY in the following ways:
- Contact your senators and representatives to urge them to pass a CR and a full year FY24 spending bill that expands – not cuts – investments in affordable, accessible homes, including by:
- Providing the Senate’s proposed funding for Tenant-Based Rental Assistance (TBRA) and Project-Based Rental Assistance programs. While both the House and Senate provided increased funding for these vital programs, it is unlikely that the House’s proposed funding levels would be sufficient to renew all existing contracts. The Senate bill provides funding not only sufficient to renew existing voucher contracts, but to expand vouchers to an additional 4,000 households.
- Ensuring full funding for public housing operations and repairs. Both the House and Senate bill proposed funding cuts to the Public Housing Capital Fund, despite an over $70 billion capital needs backlog in the public housing portfolio. While the Senate bill provided increased funding for Public Housing Operations – which the House bill cut – it is crucial that these programs receive increased funding in FY24 just to maintain the current level of services.
- Allocating the Senate’s proposed funding for Homeless Assistance Grants. HUD’s Homeless Assistance Grants (HAG) program provides vital funding to respond to the needs of people experiencing homelessness.
- Protecting funding in the Senate bill for legal assistance to prevent evictions. The Senate maintains $20 million in funding for a new grant program for legal assistance to prevent evictions, which the House proposal eliminates.
- Appropriating the House’s proposed funding for Native housing. While both the House and Senate bills would provide increased funding for native housing programs, the House spending bill would provide a more than 40% increase from FY23 to the Native American Housing Block Grant program – a significant investment towards addressing the housing crisis on tribal lands.
- Join over 2,100 organizations by signing on to a national letter from the Campaign for Housing and Community Development Funding (CHCDF), calling on Congress to oppose budget cuts and instead to support the highest level of funding possible for affordable housing, homelessness, and community development resources in FY24.