HAC Opposes Fair Housing Rule Change

March 17, 2020/in Policy

HAC has taken a firm stance against the Administration’s proposed change to the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) regulations. In comments submitted on March 16, 2020, HAC wrote, in part:

The definition [of affirmatively furthering fair housing] now proposed – “acting in a manner consistent with reducing obstacles within the participant’s sphere of influence to providing fair housing choice” – asks very little. It omits any vision of a truly fair community, contemplating only the actions that can be taken by a single entity without any far-reaching goals. Taken with the rest of the proposal’s weakened provisions, this definition inappropriately downgrades the importance of AFFH activities. . . .
HUD proposes to measure whether a jurisdiction is affirmatively furthering fair housing by examining its lack of adjudicated fair housing violations, the availability of affordable housing and the availability of affordable housing in decent condition. Yet none of these is a determinant of fair housing choice.

HAC’s full comments are here and the complete comment docket is here.

Administration Budget Recognizes Rural Preservation Needs but Proposes Many Housing Cuts

Feb. 10, 2020 – Housing aid and other safety net programs are again targeted for reduction in the Trump Administration’s budget for fiscal year 2021, which begins October 1, 2020. The budget request, released today, is the first step in the annual appropriations process.

For the third year in a row, the Administration proposes to eliminate most USDA rural housing programs and many HUD programs – though there are not quite as many zeroes this year as in the past. Also for the third year in a row, Congress is expected to develop its own funding proposals. As the tables below indicate, Congress has not been inclined to accept cuts to housing aid.

To follow the funding process as it develops, sign up for the biweekly HAC News newsletter.

USDA

The FY21 budget departs from this Administration’s previous proposals in recognizing a need for repair and preservation of existing properties, both rental and owner-occupied. It proposes to fund the Multifamily Rental Preservation demonstration (MPR) at $40 million, considerably higher than the $28 million appropriated for FY20, and much needed because late in 2019 USDA had a backlog of MPR commitments amounting to around $70 million. It also suggests level funding of $30 million for Section 504 repair grants for very low-income elderly homeowners (but nothing for Section 504 loans) and $10 million for Section 533 Housing Preservation Grants, which can be used for either rental or owner-occupied homes. The budget narrative does not explain this apparent shift in approach.

Like this Administration’s past budgets, this one would charge tenants in Section 515 or Section 514/516 rentals a minimum of $50 per month. The budget also proposes to delete language that was adopted in the final FY20 funding agreement and allows renewals of Section 521 Rental Assistance contracts for 20 years, subject to annual appropriations.

USDA Rural Development Appropriations[tdborder][/tdborder]

USDA Rural Dev. Prog. (dollars in millions)	FY19 Admin. Budget	FY19 Final Approp.	FY20 Admin. Budget	FY20 Final Approp.	FY21 Admin. Budget
502 Single Fam. Direct Self-Help setaside*	0 0	$1,000 5*	0 0	$1,000 5*	0 0
502 Single Family Guar.	24,000	24,000	24,000	24,000	24,000
504 VLI Repair Loans	0	28	0	28	0
504 VLI Repair Grants	0	30	0	30	30
515 Rental Hsg. Direct Lns.	0	40	0	40	0
514 Farm Labor Hsg. Lns.	0	27.5	0	28	0
516 Farm Labor Hsg. Grts.	0	10	0	10	0
521 Rental Assistance	1,331.4	1,331.4	1,335**	1,375	1,410**
523 Self-Help TA	0	30	0	31	0
533 Hsg. Prsrv. Grants	0	15	0	15	15
538 Rental Hsg. Guar.	250	230	250	230	230
Rental Prsrv. Demo. (MPR)	0	24.5	0	28	40
542 Rural Hsg. Vouchers	20	27	32**	32	40**
Rural Cmnty. Dev’t Init.	0	6	0	6	0
Rental Prsrv. TA	0	1	0	1	0

* For the self-help setaside in Section 502 direct, the figures in the table represent budget authority, not program levels.
** The budget would move vouchers into the Rental Assistance account.

HUD

As it has before, the Administration proposes to cut support for public housing, CDBG, HOME, Native American housing and SHOP, as well as the relatively new veterans home modification and rehabilitation program. It does propose increases above FY20 levels for project-based Section 8, Section 202 housing for the elderly, Section 811 housing for people with disabilities, and the healthy homes/lead hazard control account.

The Administration also includes a proposal to eliminate funding for the National Housing Trust Fund, although that funding comes from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and does not need to be included in this budget.

HUD Appropriations

HUD Program (dollars in millions)	FY19 Admin. Budget	FY19 Final Approp.	FY20 Admin. Budget	FY20 Final Approp.	FY21 Admin. Budget
CDBG	0	$3,300	0	$3,425	0
HOME	0	1,250	0	1,350	0
Self-Help Homeownshp. (SHOP)	0	10	0	10	0
Veterans Home Rehab	0	4	0	4	0
Tenant-Based Rental Asstnce. VASH setaside Tribal VASH	20,550 0 4	22,598 40 4	22,244 0 0	23,874 40 1	18,833 0 4
Project-Based Rental Asstnce.	10,952	11,747	12,021	12,570	12,642
Public Hsg. Capital Fund	0	2,775	0	2,869	0
Public Hsg. Operating Fund	3,279	4,653	2,863	4,549	3,572
Choice Neighbrhd. Initiative	0	150	0	175	0
Native Amer. Hsg. Block Grt.	600	655	600	646	600
Homeless Assistance Grants	2,383	2,636	2,599	2,777	2,773
Hsg. Opps. for Persons w/ AIDS	330	393	330	410	330
202 Hsg. for Elderly	563	678	644	793	853
811 Hsg. for Disabled	132	184	157	202	252
Fair Housing	62.3	65.3	62	70	65.3
Healthy Homes & Lead Haz. Cntl.	145	279	290	290	360
Housing Counseling	45	50	45	53	45

Congress Set to Pass FY20 Funding Bills Before Dec. 20 Deadline

December 16, 2019/in Policy U.S. Department of Agriculture

On December 16, 2019 congressional negotiators released the text of two massive spending bills that are expected to fund the entire federal government for the rest of fiscal year 2020, which started on October 1, 2019 and ends on September 30, 2020.

The House is expected to pass both “minibus” bills on Tuesday, December 17. Then the Senate will pass them and President Trump will sign them by Friday, when the continuing resolution currently keeping the government open ends.

Most of USDA’s rural housing programs will receive the same amount of funding as in FY19. Section 514 farm labor housing loans and Section 523 self-help housing grants receive small increases. The most significant increases are for the MPR rental preservation program and for Section 542 vouchers, which are for tenants in properties where USDA-financed mortgages are prepaid.

The bill includes several other provisions favorable for preservation of USDA-financed rental housing:

incentives to nonprofits and PHAs that purchase rental properties to preserve them;
optional 20-year terms for Section 521 Rental Assistance agreements; and
$1 million for technical assistance to facilitate acquisition of multifamily properties to preserve them.

The bill directs that, “to the maximum extent feasible” at least 10 percent of each program’s funding should go to persistent poverty counties. These are counties that have had 20 percent or more of the population under the poverty line for the past 30 years (beginning with the 1990 census).

USDA Rural Development Appropriations[tdborder][/tdborder]

USDA Rural Dev. Prog. (dollars in millions)	FY18 Approp.	FY19 Final Approp.	FY20 Admin. Budget	FY20 House Bill (H.R. 3055)	FY20 Senate Bill (S. 2522)	FY20 Final (H.R. 1865)
502 Single Fam. Direct Self-Help setaside*	$1,100 5*	$1,000 5*	0 0	$1,000 0	$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	0	30	30	30
515 Rental Hsg. Direct Lns.	40	40	0	45	40	40
514 Farm Labor Hsg. Lns.	23	27.5	0	30	27.5	**
516 Farm Labor Hsg. Grts.	8.4	10	0	10	10	10
521 Rental Assistance	1,345	1,331.4	1,375	1,375	1,375	1,375
523 Self-Help TA	30	30	0	32	30	31
533 Hsg. Prsrv. Grants	10	15	0	15	15	15
538 Rental Hsg. Guar.	230	230	250	250	230	230
Rental Prsrv. Demo. (MPR)	22	24.5	0	40	24.5	28
542 Rural Hsg. Vouchers	25	27	35	35	32	32
Rural Cmnty. Dev’t Init.	4	6	0	8	6	6
Rental Prsrv. TA	1	1	0	0	1	1

* For the self-help setaside in Section 502 direct, the figures in the table represent budget authority, not program levels.
** The bill provides $8.7 million in budget authority for Section 514 loans, which generates a program level somewhere between the House’s $30 million and the Senate’s 27.5 million.

Claudia Miranda and her mother, Martha Baltazar, in front of Martha’s home at Rosaleda Village in Wasco, Calif.

Federal Funding Extended to Dec. 20

November 22, 2019/in Announcements, Policy, Rural News

Just before federal funding expired on November 21, 2019, Congress passed and President Trump signed a second continuing resolution that funds the government at fiscal year 2019 levels through December 20, 2019. The bill includes tweaks to some non-housing programs and adds funding for 2020 Census preparation.

The House and Senate have passed differing USDA and HUD appropriations bills for fiscal year 2020, which started on October 1, 2019. Much work remains to be done on these and other funding measures before December 20. HAC will post updates on its website and in the HAC News newsletter. Subscribe to the free HAC News here.

Senate’s HUD Funding Bill Lower than House for Many Programs

September 19, 2019/in Policy

On September 19, 2019 the Senate Appropriations Committee approved a fiscal year 2020 funding bill for the Departments of Transportation and Housing and Urban Development. It would keep most HUD programs at or above their current funding levels, though it differs from the bill passed by the House in June. The Senate measure rejects increases proposed in the House bill for the CDBG and HOME programs, Native American housing, the Public Housing Operating Fund, Choice Neighborhoods, Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS, Section 202 elderly housing, Section 811 for people with disabilities, fair housing and housing counseling.

Both the House and Senate bills adopt an increase proposed in the Administration’s budget for lead hazard reduction, raising the program from $279 million in FY19 to $290 million for FY20.

Both the House and Senate propose to keep the Self-Help Homeownership Opportunity Program (SHOP) at $10 million, the same amount as in FY19. The Senate includes $4 million for the new veterans home rehabilitation program, which is not funded in the House bill.

HUD Appropriations

HUD Program (dollars in millions)	FY18 Approp.	FY19 Approp.	FY20 Admin. Budget	FY20 House Bill (H.R. 3055)	FY20 Senate Bill (S. 2520)
CDBG	$3,300	$3,300	0	$3,600	$3,325
HOME	1,362	1,250	0	1,750	1,250
Self-Help Homeownshp. (SHOP)	10	10	0	10	10
Veterans Home Rehab	4	4	0	0	4
Tenant-Based Rental Asstnce. VASH setaside Tribal VASH	22,015 40 5	22,598 40 4	22,244 0 4	23,810 40 5	23,833 40 1
Project-Based Rental Asstnce.	11,515	11,747	12,021	12,590	12,560
Public Hsg. Capital Fund	2,750	2,775	0	2,855	2,855
Public Hsg. Operating Fund	4,550	4,653	2,863	4,753	4,650
Choice Neighbrhd. Initiative	150	150	0	300	100
Native Amer. Hsg. Block Grt.	655	655	600	671	646
Homeless Assistance Grants	2,513	2,636	2,599	2,800	2,761
Hsg. Opps. for Persons w/ AIDS	375	393	330	410	330
202 Hsg. for Elderly	678	678	644	803	696
811 Hsg. for Disabled	230	184	157	258.5	184
Fair Housing	65.3	65.3	62	75.3	65.3
Healthy Homes & Lead Haz. Cntl.	230	279	290	290	290
Housing Counseling	55	50	45	60	45

Updated Sept. 20: Senate Committee Votes to Keep Most Rural Housing Programs at FY19 Funding Levels

September 18, 2019/in Policy

UPDATE September 20, 2019 – When HAC first posted about the bill, its text was not yet available and the information on this page was based on a summary from the Democratic members of the House Appropriations Committee. On September 20 the bill text was posted online. There are no changes to the information originally provided.

UPDATE September 19, 2019 – The full Senate Appropriations Committee approved the subcommittee’s bill.

On September 17, 2019 the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee approved a fiscal year 2020 spending bill that holds most USDA rural housing programs at 2019 levels, with increases for Section 521 Rental Assistance and Section 542 rural housing vouchers. This is far above the Administration’s budget proposal, but the bill approved by the House in June would increase funding for several other rural housing programs as well. If the full Senate approves the subcommittee’s bill, the differences between the House and Senate will have to be resolved by a conference committee.

USDA Rural Development Appropriations[tdborder][/tdborder]

USDA Rural Dev. Prog. (dollars in millions)	FY18 Approp.	FY19 Final Approp.	FY20 Admin. Budget	FY20 House Bill (H.R. 3055)	FY20 Senate Bill (S. 2522)
502 Single Fam. Direct Self-Help setaside*	$1,100 5	$1,000 5	0 0	$1,000 0	$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	0	30	30
515 Rental Hsg. Direct Lns.	40	40	0	45	40
514 Farm Labor Hsg. Lns.	23	27.5	0	30	27.5
516 Farm Labor Hsg. Grts.	8.4	10	0	10	10
521 Rental Assistance	1,345	1,331.4	1,375	1,375	1,375
523 Self-Help TA	30	30	0	32	30
533 Hsg. Prsrv. Grants	10	15	0	15	15
538 Rental Hsg. Guar.	230	230	250	250	230
Rental Prsrv. Demo. (MPR)	22	24.5	0	40	24.5
542 Rural Hsg. Vouchers	25	27	35	35	32
Rural Cmnty. Dev’t Init.	4	6	0	8	6
Rental Prsrv. TA	1	1	0	0	1

* For the self-help setaside in Section 502 direct, the figures in the table represent budget authority, not program levels.

HAC Comments on HUD's Proposed Rule Change for Mixed-Income Families

July 11, 2019/in Federal Register Comments

In May 2019 HUD proposed a change in regulations that would require public housing authorities and private landlords with HUD-assisted tenants to check tenants’ immigration status and to evict those who are not eligible for HUD aid. (Eligibility is not determined solely by citizenship or undocumented status. Some non-citizens who are legally in the U.S. are eligible and others are ineligible.) Currently, when ineligible immigrants have family members such as citizen children who are eligible, the dollar amount of the assistance is pro-rated and all members of the mixed-status family are allowed to live in the unit. The change would mean ineligible family members would have to separate from their families, or entire families would have to move out of their homes in order to stay together.

HUD received over 30,000 comments on its proposal. HAC submitted comments opposing the change.

Supreme Court Rules Citizenship Question on Census Needs a Better Rationale

June 27, 2019/in News, Policy, Rural News Vulnerable Populations

The Supreme Court has ruled that including a citizenship question on the decennial census is permitted by the Constitution, but that the Commerce Department’s stated reason for adding the question is not supported by the facts. The case will now return to a lower court. It is not clear whether a final determination can be made in time to include the question on the 2020 Census, even if different justification is provided.

Those who oppose adding the question argued in court that it would make non-citizens, even those with legal status in the U.S., less likely to respond to the 2020 Census because of concerns about immigration enforcement. Rural residents, especially those who live in remote areas, and minorities are already undercounted.

The nine Justices split differently in parts of the June 27, 2019 decision in Department of Commerce v. New York. Five justices – Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Alito, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh and Thomas – comprised the majority holding that the Constitution allows inclusion of a citizenship question. A majority consisting of Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Breyer, Ginsburg, Kagan and Sotomayor held that the Commerce Department must provide a better explanation of its reasons for including the question. Enforcement of the Voting Rights Act was the Department’s public rationale for asking about citizenship, but evidence cited by the court indicated that was not its real motivation.

The decennial census did include a question about citizenship until 1950. From 1960 to 2000, the question was included on the “long form” census questionnaire that went to a sample of households and asked more detailed questions than the “short form” distributed to everyone. In 2010 the American Community Survey (ACS) replaced the long form and began asking about citizenship. The ACS surveys a sample of the population every year, so its data is constantly updated, unlike the census count every ten years.

Based on the most recent ACS, the Census Bureau estimates that 2.8 percent of the population in rural places and small towns are non-citizens. To view the data for your community and its reliability, visit HAC’s Rural Data Portal.

USDA Extends and Expands Pilot to Help Nonprofits Preserve Rentals

June 25, 2019/in Policy

USDA Rural Development (RD) has extended its efforts to help nonprofit organizations to purchase and preserve Section 515 rental properties for lower-income tenants. The pilot was first announced in 2016 and began on March 1, 2017. The extension, announced in an Unnumbered Letter (UL) dated June 14, 2019, carries the incentives for nonprofits through April 30, 2021.

The new UL also adds new provisions to the pilot. Most notably, the pilot can now be used for properties with mortgages maturing as late as December 31, 2035 (previously properties were eligible only if their mortgages expire by the end of 2030). And it creates a new “two-step transfer process” allowing a nonprofit to purchase a property before it has all funding in place to undertake needed rehabilitation. RD will require the buyer to address all health, safety, and accessibility issues immediately after the purchase, but then it will have up to two years to do additional rehabilitation.

HAC research has documented the urgent need for actions like those in this UL to preserve properties financed with USDA Section 515 mortgages. When these mortgages reach the ends of their terms, affordability requirements expire as well. USDA Section 521 Rental Assistance, which helps tenants pay their rents, terminates along with the mortgages. Hundreds of thousands of tenants, the majority of whom are elderly or disabled, face the loss of their homes in the coming years. HAC’s 2018 report, Rental Housing for a 21st Century Rural America: A Platform for Preservation, identifies areas around the U.S. where properties are likely to be most at risk.

RD also issued another preservation-related UL on June 14, 2019, providing guidance on using the Section 538 guarantee program with Section 515 properties. It replaces a UL on the same subject dated November 21, 2017.

House FY20 Rural Housing Spending Draft Released

May 22, 2019/in Policy

Several USDA rural housing programs would receive increased funding in fiscal year 2020 under the draft spending bill revealed by the House Appropriations Committee’s Agriculture Subcommittee on May 22, 2019. The subcommittee will mark up the bill on May 23.

Rejecting the Administration budget’s proposals to eliminate funding for most of the USDA housing programs, the House bill would continue funding Section 502 direct and guaranteed loans at current levels, would increase funds for organizations that help first-time homebuyers build their own homes, and would add to the resources available to preserve affordable rural rental housing. Section 515 rental housing would receive $45 million, the Multifamily Preservation and Revitalization (MPR) program would rise to $40 million, and Section 542 rural vouchers would increase to $35 million. The bill does not, however, include preservation technical assistance, which was funded at $1 million in each of fiscal years 2018 and 2019. Section 521 Rental Assistance (RA) would get the full $1.375 billion calculated by USDA as necessary to renew all current RA contracts. Details are provided in the table below.

The House bill would also prohibit the expenditure of funds for USDA’s planned relocation of the Economic Research Service and National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

USDA Rural Development Appropriations[tdborder][/tdborder]

USDA Rural Dev. Prog. (dollars in millions)	FY18 Approp.	FY19 Final Approp.	FY20 Admin. Budget	FY20 House Bill
502 Single Fam. Direct Self-Help setaside*	$1,100 5	$1,000 5	0 0	$1,000 0
502 Single Family Guar.	24,000	24,000	24,000	24,000
504 VLI Repair Loans	28	28	0	28
504 VLI Repair Grants	30	30	0	**
515 Rental Hsg. Direct Lns.	40	40	0	45
514 Farm Labor Hsg. Lns.	23	27.5	0	***
516 Farm Labor Hsg. Grts.	8.4	10	0	***
521 Rental Assistance	1,345	1,331.4	1,375	1,375
523 Self-Help TA	30	30	0	32
533 Hsg. Prsrv. Grants	10	15	0	**
538 Rental Hsg. Guar.	230	230	250	250
Rental Prsrv. Demo. (MPR)	22	24.5	0	40
542 Rural Hsg. Vouchers	25	27	35	35
Rural Cmnty. Dev’t Init.	4	6	0	8
Rental Prsrv. TA	1	1	0	0

* For the self-help setaside in Section 502 direct, the figures in the table represent budget authority, not program levels.
** The total budget authority for Section 504 grants and Section 533 is $45 million. The committee’s report on the bill, when it becomes available, will allocate totals for the two programs.
*** The total budget authority for Sections 514 and 516 is $19.36 million. The committee’s report on the bill, when it becomes available, will allocate totals for the two programs.

HAC Opposes Fair Housing Rule Change

Administration Budget Recognizes Rural Preservation Needs but Proposes Many Housing Cuts

USDA

Congress Set to Pass FY20 Funding Bills Before Dec. 20 Deadline

Federal Funding Extended to Dec. 20

Senate’s HUD Funding Bill Lower than House for Many Programs

Updated Sept. 20: Senate Committee Votes to Keep Most Rural Housing Programs at FY19 Funding Levels

HAC Comments on HUD's Proposed Rule Change for Mixed-Income Families

Supreme Court Rules Citizenship Question on Census Needs a Better Rationale

USDA Extends and Expands Pilot to Help Nonprofits Preserve Rentals

House FY20 Rural Housing Spending Draft Released

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