Legislative & Policy

U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Ranking Member of the Housing, Transportation and Community Development Subcommittee of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, is leading an effort in the Senate to boost FY19 funding for public housing. His office has asked CLPHA for help in encouraging other Senators to sign onto the letter to the Appropriations Committee requesting full funding of the Public Housing Operating Fund at 100 percent proration, $5 billion for the Public Housing Capital Fund, and $200 million for the Choice Neighborhoods program.

The following messages are being sent to other U.S. Senators by Senator Menendez’s office:

PUBLIC HOUSING:

“Sen. Menendez invites your boss to sign the attached letter in support of the Public Housing Operating Fund and the Public Housing Capital Fund. The letter requests full funding of the Public Housing Operating Fund at 100 percent proration and $5 billion for the Public Housing Capital Fund. The Operating Fund provides the subsidies necessary to cover the difference between the rents paid by residents and the operating costs of the property. Due to federal funding cuts, public housing agencies have been subject to significantly prorated operating subsidies. In fiscal years 2015 and 2016, operating subsidies were prorated at 86 percent and 84 percent, respectively. Public housing agencies have not received full funding since fiscal year 2010. The Capital Fund is the primary source of funding to preserve the 1.1 million units in our public housing inventory. In 2010, HUD estimated that the public housing inventory has a capital needs backlog of $26 billion, increasing by an average of $3.4 billion each year. Due to repeated underfunding, HUD estimates that we lose approximately 10,000 units of public housing every year due to physical obsolescence and disrepair.

“If your boss would like to sign, please contact Rebecca Schatz at Rebecca_Schatz@menendez.senate.gov. Deadline to sign is COB Monday, April 16.

“FY18 signers: Menendez, Brown, King, Van Hollen, Durbin, Cantwell, Kaine, Blumenthal, Cortez Masto, Hirono, Duckworth, Hassan, Warren, Sanders”

QUICK ACTION NEEDED: 

Please reach out to your U.S. Senators and strongly urge them to sign onto the Dear Colleague letters circulated by Senator Menendez boosting funding for the Public Housing Operating Fund, Public Housing Capital Fund and the Choice Neighborhoods program

Dear Colleague Letter - Choice Neighborhoods

Dear Colleague Letter - Public Housing 

As the summer August recess winds down, members of Congress, who are currently back home in their districts and states, will soon be returning to the nation’s capital to face a busy fall agenda. High on the agenda is funding the federal government for the coming fiscal year 2018, which begins Oct. 1.

It is reported that Congress may package the eight remaining appropriations bills (out of twelve) into one megabus spending bill. For HUD, this would require the House and Senate Appropriations Committees to agree upon the unresolved issues in their respective FY18 funding bills. If Congress is unable to complete action on the megabus (or any other joint spending measures) by Sept. 30, a continuing resolution (CR) will be needed to keep the government running and funded at current levels. Of note to CLPHA members, a CR will not provide increased funding for THUD programs and will not enable lifting of the RAD cap as proposed in the Senate bill. Adding to the uncertainty, President Trump has threatened to shut down the federal government if he does not get funding for his border wall.

While both the House and Senate funding bills repudiated most of the Trump Administration’s budget proposals, the Senate THUD bill, in particular, offers higher funding levels than the House bill, including funding for the Public Housing Operating Fund, Public Housing Capital Fund, Housing Choice Voucher program, the Choice Neighborhood Initiative, Homeless Assistance Grants, the Community Development Block Grant, the HOME Investment Partnership program, and others. The Senate bill would also completely eliminate the arbitrary unit cap, as well as the public housing application deadlines for RAD.

CLPHA members need to urge members of Congress to fund important housing programs. 

Before Congress returns to the nation’s capital and becomes distracted by other matters, it is critical that CLPHA members reach out to their members of Congress and encourage them to support funding for public housing, housing vouchers and other HUD programs.  

ACTION:

We strongly urge CLPHA members to contact their members of Congress before the end of the August recess and ask them to support no less than the Senate committee-passed HUD appropriations funding levels for FY18, and the elimination of the RAD cap.

For questions or additional information, please contact: Gerard Holder, CLPHA Legislative Director (gholder@clpha.org)