NEW YORK STATE RURAL ADVOCATES

Less money for HOME,  CDBG, Public Housing

FY 2012 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill Subcommittee Mark  September 20, 2011

Providing housing and services to our Nation’s most vulnerable Section 8 Tenant-based rental assistance: $18.9 billion for housing choice vouchers. This level of funding is $501 million above the fiscal year 2011 enacted level. This funding is critical to ensuring that our Nation’s low-income families, especially those hit hard by the recession, can maintain safe, affordable housing. It includes: . $17.14 billion for the renewal of current housing choice vouchers and $1.4 billion for program administration; . $75 million for 11,000 new HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) vouchers for homeless veterans; . $60 million for the Family Self-Sufficiency program; and . $5 million to support a homeless demonstration program.

Public Housing: $1.9 billion for the public housing capital fund, a decrease of $165 million below the fiscal year 2011 enacted level. This funding will help preserve and improve public housing. The bill also includes $4 billion for the public housing operating fund, which is $655 million below the fiscal year 2011 enacted level. The language allows the Secretary to offset PHA’s excess reserves, but limits the allowable offset to $750 million. Project-based rental assistance: $9.4 billion for the project-based section 8 program, including over $9.1 billion for the renewal of all expiring project-based contracts for a full 12 months. This level of funding is $161 million above the fiscal year 2011 enacted level.

Homeless Assistance grants: $1.9 billion for homeless assistance grants. This level of funding is equal to the fiscal year 2011 enacted level. In response to the increase in family homelessness, the bill includes $286 million for the Emergency Solutions Grant program to prevent families from becoming homeless, or rapidly re-house those that are homeless.

Native American housing block grants: $650 million for Native American housing block grants. This level of funding will support the housing and community development needs of Native Americans.

Supporting our communities and addressing the foreclosure crisis Community Development Block Grants (CDBG): $2.85 billion is provided for CDBG grant funding for States and communities across the Nation. This is $485 million below the fiscal year 2011 enacted level. This funding will assist states and communities that are still struggling as the economy recovers with their continued efforts to invest in and support the needs of low- income communities.

HOME Investment Partnership: $1 billion for the HOME Investment Partnership program, which is $607 less than the fiscal year 2011 enacted level. This funding supports the creation and rehabilitation of low-income housing across the country. The bill also includes reforms to ensure that funds are used in a timely fashion for worthy projects.

Housing Counseling: A total of $125 million for housing counseling efforts. This includes $60 million for HUD’s housing counseling activities, including Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) counseling and pre-purchase counseling. In addition, $65 million is included to continue the National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling program that began in fiscal year 2008.

Investing in transportation infrastructure Funding for Significant Transportation Projects (“TIGER” program): $550 million for grants to support significant transportation projects in a wide variety of modes, including highways and bridges, public transportation, passenger and freight railroads, and port infrastructure. The bill requires the Secretary to allocate no less than $120 million for projects in rural communities. The funding level included in the bill is $23 million higher than the fiscal year 2011 enacted level.

Highway Investments: $41.1 billion for the Federal-aid Highway program to support essential investments in roads and bridges in every State across the country. This funding level is equal to the fiscal year 2011 enacted level. The bill does not include any rescission of budgetary resources from the highway program. The appropriations act for fiscal year 2011 included $3.1 billion in rescisions of unused highway resources provided in previous years. Transit Investments: An additional $358 million above the fiscal year 2011 enacted level for the transit “New Starts” program. This funding supports projects across the Nation that will provide new or expanded public transportation services. Airport Investments: $3.5 billion for capital investments at airports across the country.