Senate Releases FY25 THUD Spending Bill Proposing More Than 10% Increase to HUD Programs Despite Spending Caps

The U.S. Senate’s Committee on Appropriations’ Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development (THUD) released on July 25 its draft spending bill for fiscal year (FY) 2025. Overall, the bill provides $78.2 billion for HUD’s affordable housing, homelessness, and community development programs, an increase of $8.2 billion – or more than 10% – over FY24-enacted levels. The funding includes $8.4 billion in offsetting receipts from the Federal Housing Administration (FHA).

The Senate proposal would provide $5 billion more than the overall funding level provided in the House’s FY25 proposal. For a comparison to funding levels enacted in FY24, proposed in President Biden’s budget request, and proposed in the House’s funding request, see NLIHC’s updated budget chart.

Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Patty Murray (D-WA) and Vice Chair Susan Collins (R-ME) reached a bipartisan agreement to provide funding above the austere 1% caps allowed under the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 (FRA). According to the Chairs’ agreement, nondefense funding would receive an additional $13.5 billion in emergency funding beyond the FRA-allowed levels.

Thanks to this funding boost, and to the hard work and dedication of advocates across the country and our champions in Congress – including Chair Murray and Vice Chair Collins, THUD Subcommittee Chair Brian Schatz (D-HI) and Ranking Member Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), and their staffs – the Senate THUD bill would provide increased funding for key HUD programs, particularly those responsible for getting or keeping people with the lowest incomes housed.

The bill proposes an increase to the Tenant-Based Rental Assistance (TBRA) program of $2.9 billion over the previous fiscal year, and $3 billion more than the funding proposed in the House THUD bill, for a total of $35.3 billion. The funding provided may be sufficient to cover the full cost of renewing existing TBRA voucher contracts and would provide funding for 3,000 new vouchers for youth aging out of foster care and veterans at risk of or experiencing homelessness.

The bill would also provide $4.3 billion to HUD’s Homeless Assistance Grants (HAG) program, a $268 million increase from the previous fiscal year, and $259 million more than the levels provided in the House proposal and in President Biden’s budget request. HAG funding is vital to connecting people experiencing homelessness with the resources and support they need to find and maintain safe, stable housing.

The bill would increase funding for the Native American Housing Block Grant program by $106 million, for a total of $1.2 billion in FY25, and maintain $150 million in funding for the competitive grant program. The Senate proposal would also maintain $20 million in funding for HUD’s Eviction Protection Grant Program (EPGP), which provides grants to communities to provide people at risk of eviction with access to legal assistance and other services to help them remain stably housed.

Both the Public Housing Capital Fund and Public Housing Operating Fund would receive cuts from the previous fiscal year, for total funding levels of $3.2 billion and $5.4 billion, respectively. The Senate bill would also provide $65 million for a competitive grant program to remediate residential health hazards in public housing.

Other important programs would receive increased funding in FY25, including Project-Based Rental Assistance (PBRA), the Choice Neighborhoods Initiative, Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA), the HOME Investment Partnership Program (HOME), and Section 202 Housing for the Elderly. Other programs, including the Native Hawaiian Housing Block Grant program, Preservation and Reinvestment Initiative for Community Enhancement (PRICE) program, Housing Counseling Assistance, Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity program, and the Healthy Homes and Lead Hazards program, would receive level funding. Only a few HUD programs would be subject to funding cuts under the Senate’s proposal, including the Community Development Fund. However, cuts to the fund are proposed only in the Economic Development Initiative (EDI) account, better known as “congressional directed spending,” or “earmarks”; the formula grant program would receive level funding.

Beyond spending provisions, the Senate proposal does not include the harmful policy changes included in the House draft. The House bill included policy provisions that would limit HUD’s ability to use funds to implement, administer, or enforce the department’s own “Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing” rule; bar appropriated funds from going to “sanctuary communities”; and eliminate the 30-day eviction notice requirement for HUD-assisted households, among other harmful provisions.

With both the Senate and House spending proposals for FY25 released, members will have until October 1 – the first day of FY25 – to negotiate, draft, and pass final appropriations bills. However, because of the potential impact of the elections in November, members are expected to pass instead a continuing resolution (CR) by October 1 to maintain funding for federal programs until after the elections, and possibly into the new year.

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The discrepancy between the House and Senate spending proposals for FY25 foreshadows what will likely be a contentious appropriations process. Congress needs to hear from you about the impact of HUD programs on you, your family, neighbors, and communities!