The House has put off a vote on President Trump’s proposed rescission request, which recently passed legal muster under a Government Accountability Office study (only $134 million, all from the Transportation Department, was decided as improper to impound of the total $15.2 billion).
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) stated the reason is simply an already full docket of for the House to consider between now and the Memorial Day recess. Some have speculated that a delay may also be in place to allow the White House to remove some more politically sensitive issues from the document to better ensure passage in the House, where members are fully aware of elections in less than 6 months.
The effects of such rescissions would be detrimental to affordable housing and community development, clawing back millions of dollars from HUD, Rural Development, the CDFI Fund, and Capital Magnet Fund.
–May 16, 2018– The Trump Administration sent a proposal to Congress on May 8 that calls for the rescission of over $15 billion in prior appropriated federal funds. The following affordable housing and community development related programs would be affected:
- Over $41 million – HUD’s Public Housing Capital Fund
- $40 million – Rural Housing Service Rental Assistance Program (Dept. of Agriculture)
- $2 million – Rural Community Facilities (Dept. of Agriculture)
- $22.7 million – CDFI Fund (Treasury)
- $151.2 million – Capital Magnet Fund (Treasury)
NH&RA strongly opposes this proposal and is coordinating with industry partners on a formal response, which will be released shortly. The plan remains a proposal and has not been put into law.
