The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing, Urban Development and Related Agencies (THUD) voted on its FY18 spending bill on July 11. The bill next goes to the full House Appropriations Committee, which is scheduled to vote on the bill on July 17.
Constrained by the austere spending caps required by the Budget Control Act of 2011, the draft House bill provides at least $1.5 billion less than what is needed to maintain program levels and cover inflationary costs to ensure that every household currently receiving housing assistance can remain in their homes While the House bill does not propose funding cuts as deep as President Trump’s budget request, it would significantly reduce funding for critical affordable housing resources that provide lifelines for extremely low income seniors, people with disabilities, families with children, veterans, and other vulnerable populations.
During the hearing, Subcommittee Ranking Member David Price (D-NC) highlighted the allocation’s inadequacy, saying it was “unworkable.” The draft bill represents a $1.1 billion reduction from FY17 levels. "As a result of that, we are not investing enough in our housing and transportation infrastructure to even maintain it, let alone expand it,” Mr. Price said. “We should be increasing our commitment to these housing and transportation programs, not making these cuts." Mr. Price also stressed that while discretionary domestic spending is not the main driver of our nation’s deficit, time and again Congress has turned to this one area of spending to bear the whole brunt of deficit reduction.
In her opening statement, Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Nita Lowey (D-NY) stressed the importance of a bipartisan budget deal. “The primary obstacle is the majority’s failure to work with Democrats to develop topline numbers that make responsible appropriations bills possible. I do hope we start to work together," she said.
The Campaign for Housing and Community Development Funding (CHCDF), convened by NLIHC, has called on Congress to provide relief from these austere spending caps and to ensure affordable housing, community development, and transportation programs receive the highest allocation of discretionary funds possible. CHCDF also urges Congress to continue to treat defense and nondefense programs equally when providing budget relief.
Read the text of the proposed bill at: http://bit.ly/2tfaCO9.
Watch the archived webcast of the markup at: http://bit.ly/2sKS7Wi.
Read the NLIHC’s analysis of the bill at: http://bit.ly/2sLyR7j.
Review NLIHC’s budget chart at: http://bit.ly/1SowzjU.