House USDA appropriations bill released. On May 24 the House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee marked up a proposal for FY12 funding, and the full committee will review it on May 31. The bill would provide more rural housing funding than had been feared, although all programs except Section 502 guarantees and Section 504 grants would be cut. The Senate is likely to propose higher figures. The unnumbered House bill is available at http://appropriations.house.gov.
|
USDA Rural Development Program |
FY10 Approp. |
FY11 |
FY12 Admin. Budget |
FY12 Hse. Subcmte. Proposal |
|
Loans and Payments |
||||
|
502 Single Fam. Direct |
$1,121 |
$1,121 |
$211.4 |
$845.6 |
|
502 Single Family Guar. |
12,000 |
24,000 |
24,000 |
24,000 |
|
504 Very Low-inc. Rpr. |
34.4 |
23.4 |
0 |
0 |
|
514 Farm Labor Hsg. |
27.3 |
(b) |
27 |
(d) |
|
515 Rental Hsg. Direct |
69.5 |
69.5 |
95.2 |
58.6 |
|
538 Rental Hsg. Guar. |
129.1 |
30.9 |
0 |
0 |
|
Rental Prsrv. Revlg. Lns. |
1.8 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
Grants |
||||
|
504 Very Low-inc. Rpr. |
31.6 |
(c) |
11.5 |
32 |
|
516 Farm Labor Hsg. |
9.9 |
(b) |
9.8 |
(d) |
|
523 Self-Help TA |
41.9 |
37 |
0 |
22 |
|
533 Hsg. Prsrv. Grants |
9.4 |
(c) |
0 |
0 |
|
521 Rental Assistance |
980 |
955.6 |
906.7 |
890 |
|
542 Rural Hsg. Vouchers |
16.4 |
14 |
16 |
11 |
|
Rental Prsrv. Demo. (MPR) |
25 |
15 |
0 |
0 |
|
Rural Cmnty. Dev’t Init. |
6.3 |
5 |
8.4 |
3 |
a. Figures shown do not include 0.2% across the board reduction.
b. Budget authority (BA, the cost to the government) in the farm labor housing account would remain at FY10 levels, but loan costs have risen as interest rates have risen, so the 514/516 program levels could be somewhat lower.
c. The Rural Housing Assistance Grants pool, which funds Section 504 grants, Section 533, and some other smaller programs, is reduced by $1.1 million from FY10 levels.
d. The BA for Section 514 and 516 would fall from $19.7 million in FY11 to $12.5 million for FY12, but the bill does not allocate amounts specifically for loans or grants.
House subcommittee considers moving USDA rural housing to HUD. On May 25 the House Financial Services Committee’s Subcommittee on Insurance, Housing and Community Opportunity held a hearing on a draft bill entitled the “FHA-Rural Regulatory Improvement Act,” which would move USDA’s rural housing programs to a new office in HUD headed by a new Deputy Assistant Secretary for Rural Housing. The bill would also institute fees to make the Section 538 program self-supporting and make changes in FHA and Ginnie Mae. The draft bill is posted at http://financialservices.house.gov/UploadedFiles/fha_rural.pdf and hearing witnesses’ testimony is at http: //financialservices.house.gov/Calendar/EventSingle.aspx?EventID=241957.
Section 538 loan guarantees available. The May 26 Federal Register will announce that lenders can apply by Dec. 30 for multifamily rental housing loan guarantees. Funds will be committed first to approved applications from prior years. See Federal Register, 5/26/11, or http://www.grants.gov. Contact an RD State Office, http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/recd_map.html, or Monica Cole, USDA, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , 202-720-1251.
HUD offers FY11 funds for lead hazard programs, asthma interventions, HOPWA, Section 811. Visit http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/fundsavail.cfm or http://www.grants.gov.
HOME program under scrutiny. Washington Post articles criticizing HOME for incomplete projects and unused funding are online at http://www.washingtonpost.com/2010/07/08/AFxelh3G_page.html. HUD’s response was posted May 19 at http://blog.hud.gov/. The House Financial Services Committee will hold an oversight hearing May 31, and the Senate Banking Committee is expected to schedule a hearing.
