During a hearing held by the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies on June 13, Senators from both parties voiced concern about the Trump Administration’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 budget request for the agency and its proposal to eliminate the under secretary for rural development position. Subcommittee Ranking Member Jeff Merkley (D-OR) stated that “the budget comes across less as a ‘Make American Agriculture Great’ budget, and more as a ‘Rural America and Farmers Last’ budget.”
The president’s budget proposes significant reductions to U.S. Department of Agriculture’s rural housing budget, including a $60 million cut to Section 521 Rural Rental Assistance, the elimination of the Multifamily Preservation and Revitalization program, and the elimination of key homeownership programs, including Section 502 Direct Homeownership Loans and Section 523 Mutual Self-Help Housing.
NLIHC and nearly 600 organizations from across the country have signed onto a letter circulated by the National Rural Housing Coalition in opposition to the proposed cuts. The letter criticized the Administration’s response to the problems facing rural America as what “can only be described as a wholesale retreat.”
NLIHC encourages advocates to call their members of Congress to urge them to oppose the president’s proposed budget and U.S. Department of Agriculture reorganization plan and to fully fund rural housing investments.
Contact your Congressional delegation directly at: http://bit.ly/2rr1AkV
Read NRHC’s press release about rural advocates’ letter to Congress at: http://prn.to/2tmTGWB
Review NLIHC’s analysis of the Trump Administration’s proposed budget, including funding for USDA Rural Housing programs, at: http://nlihc.org/sites/default/files/Trump-Budget.pdf
Read USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue’s full testimony at: http://bit.ly/2rgSiUI
Watch a recording of the hearing at: http://bit.ly/2rIW5wN