The Housing Assistance Council is an independent, non-partisan and regularly responds to Congressional committees, Member offices, federal agencies, and policy advocacy coalitions with the research and information needed to make informed policy decisions. Our research work, Rural Data Portal, and Veterans Data Central all provide valuable, educational context to frame the rural policy conversation. If you want to know how a new program or policy could impact America’s small towns and rural places, please don’t hesitate to contact us at policy@ruralhome.org.

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

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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.

Self-help housing participants

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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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.

Infrastructure week to include focus on housing

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In advance of Infrastructure Week later this month, Congress is abuzz with talk of an infrastructure package again this week, with Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Leader Chuck Schumer visiting President Trump at the White House to discuss this opportunity for bipartisan compromise. Housing advocates, including HAC, have long emphasized that housing is infrastructure and that such a package needs to include housing funding and priorities alongside repairs to our nation’s roads and bridges.

And in a letter to the President in advance of the meeting, Speaker Pelosi and Leader Schumer said just that – listing housing among the other infrastructure needs that they hoped to address.

Building on that momentum, House Financial Services Chairwoman Maxine Waters held a hearing and released an accompanying bill on housing infrastructure this week. The bill includes funding for a variety of programs, including USDA’s MPR program and Section 504, as well as Native American Housing Block Grants.

The reach of housing investment can be deep and transformative, especially in rural areas. It is an economic driver and a job creator, it improves health and education outcomes, and it gives rural Americans a sense of pride in their community and hope for its future. As these conversations continue in the halls of government, we hope that rural housing continues to be a voice at the table.

After all, we need to invest in both our roads and what’s at the end of them – our homes.

infrastructure-fy19-announcement

HAC CEO David Lipsetz to testify on "The Affordable Housing Crisis in Rural America."

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HAC CEO David Lipsetz

On Tuesday, April 2nd at 2 p.m. EST, the House Financial Services Committee will be holding a Subcommittee hearing entitled “The Affordable Housing Crisis in Rural America: Assessing the Federal Response.” The hearing is the Subcommittee’s first of the 116th Congress and will cover the entire spectrum of rural housing issues, with a focus on rural rental preservation.

HAC CEO David Lipsetz was invited to testify, and is looking forward to engaging with Subcommittee members on a variety of issues important to rural housing and rural economic development. HAC’s 2018 “Platform for Preservation” report is the most comprehensive and timely research available on the rural rental preservation topic, and will likely provide a basis for much of the discussion.

The full witness list for the hearing is as follows:

Tune in here on April 2nd at 2 p.m. EST to watch live!

And to get a sneak peak at HAC’s testimony, click here.

 

Administration Again Proposes Eliminating Many Housing Programs

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The Trump Administration’s budget proposal for fiscal year 2020, much like its FY19 and FY18 budgets, would eliminate most of USDA’s rural housing programs, along with CDBG, HOME, and SHOP. It would require tenants in both USDA and HUD properties to pay more for their homes. It would also cut USDA Rural Development staff below their already reduced levels.

Register Now for HAC’s webinar on the Administration’s FY 2020 Budget.

USDA

Like the Administration’s FY19 budget, this year’s proposal would zero out funding for all rural housing programs except Section 502 guarantees, Section 538 guarantees for rental housing production, and renewals of existing Section 521 Rental Assistance and Section 542 vouchers. It would require tenants in USDA-assisted rental housing to pay at least $50 per month unless they apply for and receive a hardship exemption from USDA. It would also rescind $40 million from the Section 521 Rental Assistance program; that amount represents funding carried over from one year to the next to avoid potential shortfalls in funding availability to renew RA contracts at the beginning of the fiscal year.

Voucher funding would be combined with RA in a single account. USDA’s budget summary shows a $1.407 billion line item for Rental Assistance, but that amount includes $32 million for vouchers and does not account for the $40 million proposed rescission. USDA says this is enough to renew current contracts.

The budget calls for 3,776 Rural Development employees, saying this is 613 staff years below the 2019 estimate.

USDA Rural Development Appropriations[tdborder][/tdborder]

USDA Rural Dev. Prog.
(dollars in millions)

FY18 Approp.

FY19 Admin. Budget

FY19 Final Approp.

 FY 20 Admin. Budget

502 Single Fam. Direct
Self-Help setaside*

$1,100
5

0
0

$1,000
5

 0
0

502 Single Family Guar.

24,000

24,000

 24,000 24,000

504 VLI Repair Loans

28

0

 28 0

504 VLI Repair Grants

30

0

 30 0

515 Rental Hsg. Direct Lns.

40

0

 40 0

514 Farm Labor Hsg. Lns.

23

0

 27.5 0

516 Farm Labor Hsg. Grts.

8.4

0

 10 0

521 Rental Assistance

1,345

1,331.4

 1,331.4 1,335**

523 Self-Help TA

30

0

 30 0

533 Hsg. Prsrv. Grants

10

0

 15 0

538 Rental Hsg. Guar.

230

250

 230 250

Rental Prsrv. Demo. (MPR)

22

0

 24.5 0

542 Rural Hsg. Vouchers

25

20

 27 32**

Rural Cmnty. Dev’t Init.

4

0

 6 ***

Rental Prsrv. TA

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.
*** The budget documents available on March 11 do not mention RCDI. Details scheduled to be released on March 18 should confirm whether the Administration proposes any funding for this capacity building program.

HUD

The budget would decrease HUD’s funding by 16.4 percent. It would eliminate CDBG, HOME, SHOP, and support for public housing’s capital needs.

It would impose work requirements on HUD-assisted tenants and would include the Administration’s April 2018 proposed rent increases. It would moderately increase HUD’s staffing and would finance improvements to outdated technology. HUD’s summary of the request says rental assistance would be maintained for all currently assisted tenants.

HUD Appropriations [tdborder][/tdborder]

HUD Program
(dollars in millions)

FY18 Approp.

FY19 Admin. Budget

FY19 Final Approp.

FY20 Admin. Budget

CDBG

$3,300

0

 $3,300 0

HOME

1,362

0

 1,250 0

Self-Help Homeownshp. (SHOP)

10

0

 10 0

Veterans Home Rehab

4

0

 4 0

Tenant-Based Rental Asstnce.
VASH setaside
Tribal VASH

22,015
40
5

20,550
0
4

 22,598
40
4		 22,244
?
?

Project-Based Rental Asstnce.

11,515

10,952

 11,747 12,021

Public Hsg. Capital Fund

2,750

0

 2,775 0

Public Hsg. Operating Fund

4,550

3,279

 4,653 2,863

Choice Neighbrhd. Initiative

150

0

 150 0

Native Amer. Hsg. Block Grt.

655

600

 655 600

Homeless Assistance Grants

2,513

2,383

 2,636 2,599

Hsg. Opps. for Persons w/ AIDS

375

330

 393 330

202 Hsg. for Elderly

678

563

 678 644

811 Hsg. for Disabled

230

132

 184 157

Fair Housing

65.3

62.3

 65.3 62

Healthy Homes & Lead Haz. Cntl.

230

145

 279 290

Housing Counseling

55

45

 50 45

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