House Appropriations Transportation-HUD subcommittee approved a Fiscal Year 2016 Transportation Housing and Urban Development (THUD) appropriations bill that would provide $42 billion dollars for HUD, an increase of $1 billion above the fiscal year 2015 enacted level and $3 billion below the Obama Administration’s budget request. As explained in the table below, the measure includes critical cuts to certain programs, including public housing, VASH, and Choice Neighborhoods Initiative.
The subcommittee-approved measure also rejects first-time funding for the National Housing Trust Fund. The funds would not have been a specific appropriation, but would have been generated by new business from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The fund was created in 2008, but laid dormant until recently when Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Melvin L. Watt instructed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to begin setting aside and allocating funds. The spending bill would direct the $120 million that the Obama Administration sought for the National Housing Trust Fund to the Home Investment Partnership Program.
The measure heads next to the full House Appropriations Committee for further consideration. Funding highlights in the Subcommittee measure include:
| Enacted FY 2015 | President’s FY 2016 Budget | House FY 2016 Subcommittee Draft | |
| Project-Based Rental Assistance | $9.73 billion | $10.76 billion | $10.654 billion |
| Tenant-Based Rental Assistance | $19.304 billion | $21.123 billion | $19.918 billion |
| VASH | $75 million | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Public Housing Capital Fund | $1.875 billion | $1.970 billion | $1.681 billion |
| Public Housing Operating Fund | $4.44 billion | $4.6 billion | $4.44 billion |
| HOME Investment Partnerships | $900 million | $1.060 billion | $900 million |
| Choice Neighborhoods Initiative | $80 million | $250 million | $20 million |
| Supportive Housing for the Elderly (Section 202) | $420 million | $455 million | $461 million |
| Supportive Housing for Persons With Disabilities (Section 811) | $135 million | $177 million | $152 million |
| HOPWA | $330 million | $332 million | $332 million |
| Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) | $3.066 billion | $2.880 billion | $3.060 billion |
| Homeless Assistance Grants | $2.135 billion | $2.480 billion | $2.185 billion |
