The Campaign for Housing and Community Development Funding (CHCDF) hosted a Capitol Hill briefing, “An Overview of the President’s FY19 Budget Request for Affordable Housing and Community Development Programs,” on March 5 to provide national and local perspectives on Mr. Trump’s budget proposal and how the proposed funding levels would influence key programs. The briefing, attended by more than 60 staff from congressional offices and moderated by NLIHC senior policy analyst Elayne Weiss, featured Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg, who spoke about the difficulties facing local governments and the need for robust federal housing funding. Mayor Steinberg has made affordable housing a priority for his administration and has joined the bi-partisan coalition, Mayors and CEOs for U.S. Housing Investment.
Doug Rice of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities provided an overview of the president’s budget proposal, which would cut the overall HUD budget by $6.8 billion and eliminate vital affordable housing resources like the national Housing Trust Fund, the Public Housing capital fund, and the HOME Investments Partnership program. Pat Sheridan of Volunteers of America shared the challenges his organization would face as a housing provider if the president’s proposed cuts to HUD and USDA affordable housing programs were enacted.
Kathy Myers, a U.S. Army veteran and retired nurse spoke about how she was able to move into a HUD-assisted housing community and avoid homelessness after her home fell into foreclosure. She shared her gratitude for her new community and urged Congress to provide enough resources so that others in need could have the same opportunity she had to live in an affordable home.