President Joe Biden and HUD Secretary Marcia L. Fudge released their full fiscal year (FY) 2024 budget request on March 9. The proposal calls for increased funding for affordable housing and homelessness resources using two approaches: modest funding increases to HUD programs through the regular appropriations process, and major investments in housing through mandatory spending proposals. For full details, read NLIHC’s initial analysis here.
Through the regular appropriations process, the president’s budget calls for funding HUD programs at $73.3 billion, an approximately $1.1 billion – or 1.6% – increase over FY23 enacted funding. The proposal calls for $32.7 billion to renew all existing housing vouchers and to expand assistance to an additional 50,000 households through increased funding and an additional 130,000 households through program reserves.
Through its mandatory spending proposal, the budget request calls for significant investments to address the urgent housing needs of people with extremely low incomes. Building on the success of the pandemic Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) program – which kept millions of renters housed during the pandemic – the request proposes $3 billion in new resources for eviction prevention. The proposal also expands access to rental assistance by providing $9 billion to ensure universal coverage to all youth aging out of foster care, as well as $13 billion to serve veterans with extremely low incomes. According to the White House, these new resources are a “historic down payment on the president’s goal of providing universal housing vouchers for low-income households.” An additional $7.5 billion in mandatory funding would be provided to address the capital needs of the most distressed public housing properties, and another $7.5 billion is proposed to expand the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program and Project-Based Rental Assistance.
While an important marker of the level of investment needed to meaningfully address the nation’s affordable housing crisis, the mandatory spending proposal will not gain the bipartisan support needed for enactment in a divided Congress. If enacted, the request would provide substantial federal investments in affordable housing and increase the availability of housing assistance to families with the greatest needs.
The White House is expected to release additional details of the president’s FY24 budget request today (3/13). NLIHC is monitoring information as it is released and will provide additional analysis as soon as it becomes available.
The Ongoing Threat to Affordable Housing and Homelessness Funding
The release of the president’s budget request marks the official start of the FY24 appropriations cycle. In the coming months, both the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate will draft, release, and vote on their own FY24 spending proposals.
This year, House Republicans are threatening to make drastic cuts to federal spending in FY24 – including funding for vital affordable housing and homelessness resources – in exchange for raising the debt ceiling or avoiding a government shutdown. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) has proposed capping FY24 spending at FY22 levels, which would result in an estimated $130 billion in cuts from non-defense discretionary programs. Some Republicans are also considering a budget outline that would slash funding for HUD programs by as much as 43%, and eliminate the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program. Such a proposal would end assistance for millions of households with the lowest incomes, who rely on voucher assistance to afford rent and avoid homelessness.
Take Action
It is unacceptable to balance the federal budget by demanding cuts to programs that help the lowest-income households survive. There is a national shortage of approximately 7 million affordable, available homes for people with the lowest incomes, and only one in four households who qualify for federal housing assistance receives the help it needs. Without adequate funding for vital federal affordable housing and homeless assistance programs, households with the lowest incomes will continue to live precariously, only one missed paycheck or unexpected emergency away from housing instability, eviction, and, in the worst cases, homelessness.
- Sign your organization on to the Campaign for Housing and Community Development Funding’s (CHCDF) annual budget letter, calling on Congress to reject spending cuts and instead provide the highest possible allocation for HUD’s and USDA’s affordable housing, homelessness, and community development programs in FY24.
- Email your members of Congress today and urge them to increase – not cut – resources for affordable housing and homelessness in FY24 and to support NLIHC’s top appropriations priorities:
- Full funding for the TBRA program to renew existing vouchers and to expand the program to an additional 200,000 households.
- Full funding for public housing operations and repairs.
- Full funding for HUD’s Homeless Assistance Grants program.
- $100 million for legal assistance to prevent evictions.
- $3 billion for a permanent Emergency Rental Assistance program.
- Increased funding for the competitive tribal housing grants, targeted to tribes with the greatest needs.
- Check out NLIHC’s advocacy toolkit, “Oppose Dramatic Cuts to Federal Investments in Affordable Housing,” for talking points, sample social media messages, and more!