Categories: Federal
03.05.2014
Includes a substantial proposed increase for McKinney-Vento grants
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President Obama released his budget for the 2015 fiscal year yesterday, and it includes a 2.6% total increase for the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The budget, if passed, would begin to undo the damage caused to HUD programs by sequestration.
A key highlight from this budget is a 14% increase to the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Grant program. This increase would bring the program to over $2.4 billion, allowing it to fund all grant renewals and some new projects. HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan recently acknowledged that the difficult budgets of the past two years have prevented HUD from achieving its goal of ending chronic homelessness by 2015, but he has renewed the commitment to achieve that goal by the end of 2016.
Rental assistance programs also fair well in the executive budget. New vouchers for veterans, seniors and people with disabilities are included, along with full funding for the Section 8 programs. Proposed funding for Project Based Section 8 vouchers would see a decrease, but this is due a welcomed move to fund the program on a calendar year basis. As a result, next year the program would require a substantial lift to annualize this change. Stabilizing this fund will do much to improve investor confidence in Project Based-funded supportive housing.
See the below table for a breakdown of the key HUD programs in the executive budget:
HUD Budget (in millions)
| 2014 Final | 2015 Executive | Net Increase | % Change | |
| McKinney-Vento | $2,105 | $2,406 | $301 | 14% |
| HOME | $1,000 | $950 | -$50 | -5% |
| HOPWA | $330 | $332 | $2 | 1% |
| VASH | $75 | $75 | *** | *** |
| Tenant Based Section 8 | $19,177 | $20,045 | $868 | 5% |
| Project Based Section 8 | $9,917 | $9,746 | -$171 | -2% |
| 202 Senior Housing | $384 | $440 | $56 | 15% |
| 811 Housing for People with Disabilities | $126 | $160 | $34 | 27% |
***Represents new incremental increase of approximately 10,000 vouchers
While the HOME program received another hit, the budget provides a pathway to funding the National Housing Trust Fund with an initial $1 billion, as part of a separately proposed revenue reform proposal. If passed, this proposal would raise the overall HUD budget by an additional 1%.
Your help is needed to ensure that Congress supports these higher funding levels. Please sign on to national effort to achieve this here. If you have any additional questions regarding President Obama’s executive budget, please email the Network’s Steve Piasecki.
The House is expected to produce its version of the budget soon, drafted by Rep. Paul Ryan. It is expected to be starkly different, with much lower domestic funding overall. The Senate may not produce a budget this year. The Network will participate as a state captain for the National Low Income Housing Coalition’s lobby day on April 30. We hope you’ll consider joining us in Washington to advocate for these funding increases.