U.S. Conference of Mayors Passes Resolution Supporting Extension of Emergency Housing Voucher Funding

By Kim Johnson, NLIHC Senior Director of Policy 

The U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) passed a resolution stating that “supporting the extension of funding for the Emergency Housing Vouchers (EHV) program” would be one of the Conference’s key policy priorities in the year ahead. USCM is the official non-partisan organization representing cities around the country with over 30,000 residents, over 1,400 cities in total. Adopting the resolution makes advocating for continued EHV funding an official policy of the USCM, a strong show of bipartisan support for the continuation of this vital program. The resolution was sponsored by San Diego Mayor and USCM Vice President Todd Gloria.  

Additional Funding for Voucher Renewals Urgently Needed  

The EHV program was created by the “American Rescue Plan Act of 2021,” which allocated $5 billion for the creation of 70,000 new rental assistance vouchers targeted specifically to people at risk of or experiencing homelessness and people fleeing intimate partner violence or human trafficking. The program has been extremely successful, helping recipients, including families and people who were experiencing chronic homelessness, find safe, stable housing.  

Around 59,000 households currently rely on an EHV to keep a roof over their heads; however, while funding for the program was authorized to last ten years, the drastic increase in the cost of rent between 2021 and 2023 drained the program’s account. In March 2025, HUD sent a letter notifying public housing agencies (PHAs) they would be receiving the last of their EHV funding the following month, and that HUD would “provide no additional EHV [renewal] funding allocations to PHAs.” While HUD estimates the remaining funding should last until partway through 2026, some PHAs are poised to run out of funding before the end of this year.  

Congress also underfunded HUD’s Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program in the final fiscal year (FY) 2025 spending bill, with an estimated 32,000 HCVs expected to be lost in the coming years through attrition. Already, HUD’s rental assistance programs are so underfunded that only one in four households eligible to receive assistance gets it, leaving the other 75% of otherwise eligible households to struggle with housing instability and, in the worst cases, homelessness.   

Take Action – Urge Congress to Provide Increased Rental Assistance Funding in FY26!  

While in the long term, policymakers should expand rental assistance to help all households in need, advocates can take action today and urge their members of Congress to provide sufficient funding in FY26 to ensure no one loses the assistance they rely on to keep a roof over their heads.  

• Check out the EHV Funding Cliff Mobilization Toolkit for additional information and resources. Created in partnership with the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), National Housing Law Project (NHLP), and National Alliance to End Homelessness (Alliance), the toolkit has talking points, template op-eds, social media posts, and more ways for advocates to take action on voucher funding!
• Learn more about how the loss of EHVs would impact your state with CBPP’s new analysis.
• Read NHLP’s recent memo on the legal rights of EHV tenants, and find legal assistance in your area here.
• Organizations can join a national sign-on letter to protect federal rental assistance and EHV funding. Individuals can weigh-in with their elected officials with NLIHC’s Take Action page.