Policy Archives

Biden Budget Outline Calls for More HUD Funding and Expanded Rural StrikeForce

April 9, 2021/in Policy Federal Funding, U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

April 9, 2021 – The Biden Administration’s first budget request, released today, outlines priorities including increases in some Department of Housing and Urban Development programs but does not mention the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s rural housing programs. A more detailed budget will be issued later this spring.

The Administration proposes to increase funding above current levels for the Rural e-Connectivity broadband program, rural water and wastewater programs and USDA’s civil rights office. It also:

Partners with Rural Leaders to Grow Rural Economies and Tackle Rural Poverty. The discretionary request provides $32 million for a renewed and expanded initiative to leverage USDA’s extensive network of offices to help people in high poverty communities tap into Federal resources, referred to as the “Strikeforce” initiative. USDA will coordinate with other Federal agencies on an all-of-Government approach to connect rural stakeholders with Federal programs and resources.

The StrikeForce initiative, which was used in several states, was launched during the Obama Administration.

Rural development is also mentioned in a paragraph about Community Development Financial Institutions:

Invests in American Communities and Small Businesses. To support and empower the Nation’s most vulnerable communities, including many rural communities, the discretionary request provides $330 million, an increase of 22.2 percent above the 2021 enacted level for annual appropriations, to support expanding the role of Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), which offer loans to start-ups and small businesses to promote the production of affordable housing and community revitalization projects. This investment builds on an unprecedented level of support for the CDFI industry in 2021, including more than $3 billion in direct funding, $9 billion for investments in CDFIs and Minority Depository Institutions, and provisions in the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 encouraging CDFI participation in the $10 billion State Small Business Credit Initiative.

HUD funds requested in the budget document include:

200,000 new vouchers;
$1.9 billion for the HOME program, an increase of $500 million over FY21 funding;
support for an additional 100,000 homeless households;
$800 million for modernization and rehabilitation of HUD-supported housing;
$3.2 billion for public housing modernization;
$180 million to support 2,000 units of new permanently affordable housing for the elderly and persons with disabilities;
$900 million for Native American housing;
$3.8 billion for the Community Development Block Grant program, including “a targeted increase of $295 million to incentivize communities to direct formula funds toward the modernization and rehabilitation of public infrastructure and facilities in historically underfunded and marginalized communities facing persistent poverty”;
$400 million, a $40 million increase, for prevention of lead and other hazards; and
$85 million for fair housing.

The HUD section of the document states that, “The discretionary request supports access to homeownership for underserved borrowers through the Federal Housing Administration’s (FHA) mortgage insurance programs.”

Redefining Nonmetro - What does OMB's Changes to the MSA Definition Mean

HAC’s Comments to the OMB on the Definition of Rural

March 15, 2021/in Advocacy, Policy What is Rural

UPDATE: HAC has submitted its comments to the Office of Management and Budget.

The Housing Assistance Council encourages rural communities and organizations to respond to the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB’s) proposal to redefine Metropolitan Statistical Areas. HAC offers this DRAFT language and information to help develop your response to this proposed action. HAC encourages you to customize your response to OMB to reflect you and your community’s position on this issue.

Comments are due to OMB by Friday March 19, 2021

Submit Comments to: https://www.regulations.gov/commenton/OMB-2021-0001-0001

Watch HAC’s webinar, Redefining “Nonmetro”: What Does the Proposed Metropolitan Area Definition Change Mean for Rural America, to learn more.

HAC Celebrates Signing of American Rescue Plan Act

March 11, 2021/in Coronavirus, Coronavirus In Rural America, Policy

March 11, 2021 – Today is a historic day as President Biden signed a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief and economic stimulus plan into law. The Housing Assistance Council is proud that Congress included significant and desperately needed housing aid—including rural housing assistance—in this new plan.

With more than 4 million reported cases and 78,000 deaths outside metropolitan areas, the coronavirus pandemic has raged in rural America. It has driven an economic downturn, as countless rural families have lost jobs and struggled to make rent and mortgage payments. The plan’s $100 million in rural rental assistance will help keep a roof over their heads. The plan also includes $39 million in rural mortgage relief, helping rural families prevent foreclosure.

Housing is vital to public health and economic opportunity and is a cornerstone of community and family. We are glad that the American Rescue Plan recognizes the importance of housing to our nation’s health and economic recovery.

Summary of Relevant Provisions

The American Rescue Plan Act includes two provisions specifically for USDA rural housing programs. The Section 521 Rental Assistance program will get $100 million for tenants in USDA-financed properties who are not already receiving RA and have lost income because of the pandemic. Protections for homeowners will be provided through $39 million for new Section 502 direct mortgage loans and Section 504 repair loans. Because of restrictions imposed by the budget reconciliation process that was used to pass the bill, it could not include funds to refinance loans for current USDA borrowers who are struggling, but USDA will be able to assist them with previously appropriated funds.

The Act also does not include an extension of the eviction moratorium that is currently scheduled to expire on March 31. It, too, had to be excluded under budget reconciliation. The Centers for Disease Control, which imposed the moratorium, can extend it.

The largest portion of housing aid in the bill is $21.55 billion for Treasury’s Emergency Rental Assistance program, along with $5 billion for emergency HUD vouchers, $750 million for HUD’s Native American, Native Hawaiian and Indian CDBG programs, $5 billion for homelessness assistance, $9.96 billion for homeowner assistance, and $100 million for housing counseling. Utility assistance is funded at $4.5 billion and $500 million is provided for water assistance.

The package expands the Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit, and also extends expanded unemployment benefits through Labor Day .

More than $5 billion will pay off debts and provide other assistance to socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers.

Statement from the Housing Assistance Council on the Nomination of Secretary Tom Vilsack and Rep. Marcia Fudge to Lead USDA and HUD

February 25, 2021/in Policy

As the nation’s rural housing intermediary, the Housing Assistance Council congratulates former Secretary Tom Vilsack and Representative Marcia Fudge on their nominations to lead the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, respectively. Their nominations come at a time of crisis in rural communities. The pandemic has laid bare market failures and capacity challenges that disproportionately affect rural communities. Rural homeowners and renters have been out of work for months. Federal mortgage forbearance and eviction moratoriums are set to expire at the end of the year. This is truly a time for strong, experienced leaders that can manage crisis-level responses. We are confident these two leaders will help families across the country – including in our nation’s most persistently poor places in rural America.

Rural housing markets and programs have suffered from neglect for decades. Decent, safe, and affordable housing leads to good health and wealth building. former Secretary Vilsack and Rep. Fudge know that. We look forward to working with them in their new roles to place a renewed focus on the needs of rural communities. They both bring the knowledge and experience necessary to take the helm at a difficult time in our nation’s history. We wish them well as they begin the confirmation process.

HAC Weighs In on The Federal Reserve’s CRA Plan

February 18, 2021/in Federal Register Comments Community Reinvestment Act

The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) is vitally important to communities across the nation. Through CRA, financial services have been made available to many neighborhoods that would otherwise be overlooked. In speaking of the importance of the CRA, Chairman Powell said, “The CRA plays a vital role in supporting economic opportunity in low-income and minority communities, in both rural and urban areas, and is a top priority for the Federal Reserve.”

The Housing Assistance Council responded to the Federal Reserve System’s Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on the Community Reinvestment Act to lend our voice to the process and help ensure rural community concerns are included in the discussion. HAC’s comments in response to the ANPR are focused on making sure CRA fulfills its yet unrealized potential in rural communities currently, and in any modernization effort.

HAC Urges Treasury Department to Provide Guidance on Emergency Rental Assistance Funds

January 25, 2021/in Policy Housing Affordability, Housing Problems

In December, Congress came together to pass a pandemic relief bill, which included $25 billion in emergency rental assistance. This emergency rental assistance (ERA) funding will run through the Coronavirus Relief Fund at the U.S. Department of the Treasury. To ensure that rural areas are equitably served, the Housing Assistance Council submitted comments to the Treasury Department calling for ERA guidance to include the needs of rural communities. HAC’s comments focused on highlighting several key areas:

The lack of rural-targeted housing assistance provided thus far in the pandemic, and the outsized impact COVID-19 has had in rural communities.
The importance of Treasury encouraging states to use their ERA funding proportionally in rural areas.
The need for Treasury to make clear in guidance that currently unassisted families living in USDA multifamily properties are eligible for ERA funds.
The need for Treasury to clarify that local governments do not have to incur costs up front before being able to use ERA funds.

Read the full comment letter to the Treasury Department here.

Final Funding Levels Set for FY 2021

December 21, 2020/in Policy Federal Funding, U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

On December 27, 2020 President Trump signed into law an omnibus appropriations bill to fund the federal government for the remainder of fiscal year 2021, keeping most USDA rural housing programs at their FY20 dollar levels. The bill was rolled into a package that included a coronavirus relief measure to protect U.S. residents and the economy in the midst of a surge in COVID-19 cases and the expiration of provisions adopted in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act in March. The final amounts are shown in the table below for USDA’s housing programs and here for HUD. Early information on the coronavirus relief portion of the bill package is posted here.

USDA Rural Dev. Prog. (dollars in millions)	FY19 Final Approp.	FY20 Final Approp.	FY21 Admin. Budget	FY21 House Bill	FY21 Senate Bill	FY21 Final Approp.
502 Single Fam. Direct Self-Help setaside*	$1,000 5*	$1,000 5*	0 0	$1,000 5*	$1,000 5*	$1,000 5*
502 Single Family Guar.	24,000	24,000	24,000	24,000	24,000	24,000
504 VLI Repair Loans	28	28	0	28	28	28
504 VLI Repair Grants	30	30	30	30	30	30
515 Rental Hsg. Direct Lns.	40	40	0	40	40	40
514 Farm Labor Hsg. Lns.	27.5	28	0	28	28	28
516 Farm Labor Hsg. Grts.	10	10	0	10	10	10
521 Rental Assistance	1,331.4	1,375	1,410**	1,410**	1,410	1,410
523 Self-Help TA	30	31	0	31	31	31
533 Hsg. Prsrv. Grants	15	15	15	15	15	15
538 Rental Hsg. Guar.	230	230	230	230	230	230
Rental Prsrv. Demo. (MPR)	24.5	28	40	30	28	28
542 Rural Hsg. Vouchers	27	32	40**	40**	34	40
Rural Cmnty. Dev’t Init.	6	6	0	6	6	6
Rental Prsrv. TA	1	1	0	0	2	2

* For the self-help setaside in Section 502 direct, the figures in the table represent budget authority, not program levels.
** The budget and the FY21 House bill would separate vouchers from MPR and move them into the Rental Assistance account. The Senate bill, and the final version, do not.

Statement from the Housing Assistance Council on the Nomination of Secretary Tom Vilsack and Rep. Marcia Fudge to Lead USDA and HUD

December 11, 2020/in Policy

As the nation’s rural housing intermediary, the Housing Assistance Council congratulates former Secretary Tom Vilsack and Representative Marcia Fudge on their nominations to lead the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, respectively. Their nominations come at a time of crisis in rural communities. The pandemic has laid bare market failures and capacity challenges that disproportionately affect rural communities. Rural homeowners and renters have been out of work for months. Federal mortgage forbearance and eviction moratoriums are set to expire at the end of the year. This is truly a time for strong, experienced leaders that can manage crisis-level responses. We are confident these two leaders will help families across the country – including in our nation’s most persistently poor places in rural America.

Rural housing markets and programs have suffered from neglect for decades. Decent, safe, and affordable housing leads to good health and wealth building. former Secretary Vilsack and Rep. Fudge know that. We look forward to working with them in their new roles to place a renewed focus on the needs of rural communities. They both bring the knowledge and experience necessary to take the helm at a difficult time in our nation’s history. We wish them well as they begin the confirmation process.

HAC’s 2021 Rural Housing Policy Priorities

December 3, 2020/in Policy

Federal policy has an important and lasting impact on rural places. For nearly 50 years, the Housing Assistance Council (HAC) has been the voice for the poorest of the poor in the most rural places. Our deeply rooted work in communities across the country informs our research and drives our policy positions. Our independent and non-partisan work with members of Congress, federal agencies, affordable housing and community development organizations, and other stakeholders ensures the most vulnerable rural populations – especially those in high-needs regions like the Mississippi Delta, rural Appalachia, farmworker communities, the Southwest border colonias and Indian Country – have improved access to safe and affordable housing opportunities.

Rural America is home to about 20 percent of the U.S. population and covers more than 90 percent of the U.S. landmass. Its small towns and rural regions are diverse demographically and economically, and face a wide array of local challenges and opportunities for developing their communities and housing. While each place is unique, HAC has documented several themes. Persistent poverty is a predominantly rural condition. Habitable rural housing is in severely short supply. The adequate housing that does exist is often unaffordable because rural incomes are low and run well below the national median. Rural housing lacks adequate plumbing and kitchen facilities at a rate above the national average. Overcrowding is not uncommon in some rural regions. Decades of stagnant rural house prices have denied owners the wealth and mobility so often associated with buying a home. And racial inequity is endemic as the result of housing policies and banking practices that excluded rural people of color. Complicating these challenges, a lack of reliable rural data obscures rural realities.

In addressing these issues, HAC’s policy priorities include:

Building the capacity of local affordable housing and community development organizations deeply rooted in rural places;
Expanding access to credit and safe, affordable lending in underserved rural communities;
Improving the overall quality, availability and affordability of housing to buy and rent in small towns and rural places; and
Preserving, increasing and tailoring resources for federal affordable housing programs serving rural populations.

We invite you to view our 2021 Policy Priorities and explore the various policy issues facing rural communities.

Senate agrees with most House funding levels for rural housing programs

November 10, 2020/in Policy

In a draft bill released on November 10, 2020, the Senate proposes to fund most rural housing programs in fiscal year 2021 at the same levels supported by the House. The fiscal year started on October 1 and the federal government has been operating under a continuing resolution that provides funding through December 11. The House passed appropriations bills in July but the Senate released all 12 of its proposed measures for the first time on November 10. The Senate is not expected to pursue the standard process of marking up and voting on its bills; instead, they establish starting positions for negotiations on a final omnibus bill that would fund the government for the rest of the fiscal year.

Like the House, the Senate rejected most of the Trump Administration’s budget proposals for the USDA rural housing programs and would maintain most of them at FY20 levels. There are differences, however, for Section 521 Rental Assistance (RA) and rental preservation efforts.

The House and Senate both provide $1.410 billion for RA, the amount requested by the Administration. The House adheres to the budget request and includes $40 million for Section 542 vouchers within the RA total. The Senate proposes to provide $34 million for vouchers separately, but still uses the $1.410 billion total for RA.

Both the House and Senate offer less than the $40 million requested by the Administration for the Multifamily Preservation and Revitalization (MPR) program. The House provides $30 million, the Senate $28 million. The Senate also includes $2 million for preservation-related technical assistance.

The House and Senate bills both continue the requirement for 10 percent of most USDA Rural Development programs to be directed to persistent poverty counties, those where the poverty rate has exceeded 20 percent for at least 30 years.

USDA Rural Dev. Prog. (dollars in millions)	FY19 Final Approp.	FY20 Final Approp.	FY21 Admin. Budget	FY21 House Bill	FY21 Senate Bill
502 Single Fam. Direct Self-Help setaside*	$1,000 5*	$1,000 5*	0 0	$1,000 5*	$1,000 5*
502 Single Family Guar.	24,000	24,000	24,000	24,000	24,000
504 VLI Repair Loans	28	28	0	28	28
504 VLI Repair Grants	30	30	30	30	30
515 Rental Hsg. Direct Lns.	40	40	0	40	40
514 Farm Labor Hsg. Lns.	27.5	28	0	28	28
516 Farm Labor Hsg. Grts.	10	10	0	10	10
521 Rental Assistance	1,331.4	1,375	1,410**	1,410**	1,410
523 Self-Help TA	30	31	0	31	31
533 Hsg. Prsrv. Grants	15	15	15	15	15
538 Rental Hsg. Guar.	230	230	230	230	230
Rental Prsrv. Demo. (MPR)	24.5	28	40	30	28
542 Rural Hsg. Vouchers	27	32	40**	40**	34
Rural Cmnty. Dev’t Init.	6	6	0	6	6
Rental Prsrv. TA	1	1	0	0	2

* For the self-help setaside in Section 502 direct, the figures in the table represent budget authority, not program levels.
** The budget and the FY21 House bill would separate vouchers from MPR and move them into the Rental Assistance account. The Senate bill would not.

Biden Budget Outline Calls for More HUD Funding and Expanded Rural StrikeForce

HAC’s Comments to the OMB on the Definition of Rural

HAC Celebrates Signing of American Rescue Plan Act

Statement from the Housing Assistance Council on the Nomination of Secretary Tom Vilsack and Rep. Marcia Fudge to Lead USDA and HUD

HAC Weighs In on The Federal Reserve’s CRA Plan

HAC Urges Treasury Department to Provide Guidance on Emergency Rental Assistance Funds

Final Funding Levels Set for FY 2021

Statement from the Housing Assistance Council on the Nomination of Secretary Tom Vilsack and Rep. Marcia Fudge to Lead USDA and HUD

HAC’s 2021 Rural Housing Policy Priorities

Senate agrees with most House funding levels for rural housing programs

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