Senate transportation and housing appropriations bill clears subcommittee

Yesterday the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development (THUD) approved without objection a draft of the FY 2014 spending bill. That there was little or no debate is a reminder that funding levels for HUD programs flow quite directly from the overall committee allocation, which is why NHC and many other housing stakeholders have been advocating for a higher THUD 302(b) allocation.

The bill, which provides $54 billion housing and transportation related activities, is a significant improvement over the House’s $44 billion appropriation. The additional $10 billion provides crucial funding support for housing and community development programs such as tenant and project based rental assistance, HOME, and Community Development Block Grants (CDBG). The bill also provides increased funding over FY13 for public housing operating and capital funds, Choice Neighborhoods Initiative, housing counseling assistance, and continued funding for the National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling program.

Overall the Senate bill provides a better starting point than the House bill, but, as the budget battle heats up in both chambers, continued action is needed in order to ensure the preservation and expansion of vital housing assistance programs. Full committee consideration is scheduled for the Senate and House bills on Thursday. We will continue to update NHC’s Open House Blog with developments over the next week.

Below is a comparison chart of a few key HUD programs to highlight differences between the President’s request and the House and Senate bills. Look for more detail to come after the full committee markup.