TOP STORIES

House and Senate committees advance USDA and HUD FY26 appropriations bills

On July 10, the Senate Appropriations Committee unanimously approved S. 2256, a fiscal year 2026 funding bill for USDA that would hold rural housing programs close to current funding levels. Like the House version of the bill, H.R. 4121, the Senate’s measure rejects many of the cuts proposed by the administration’s budget. Details are posted on HAC’s site. The Senate would raise Section 502 direct funding to $1 million, higher than the House’s $880 million, and would set the Section 523 self-help program at $25 million, above the $20 million proposed by the House. The administration’s budget requested no support for either Section 502 direct or self-help. Like the House and the administration, the Senate would fund Section 521 Rental Assistance at $1.715 billion to support current tenants.

On July 17, the House Appropriations Committee passed a Transportation-HUD funding bill, H.R. 4552. It does not adopt the administration’s proposal to combine numerous programs into a block grant to states, but does include some of the significant cuts proposed in the administration’s budget: it would provide no funding for HOME or housing counseling, would reduce SHOP from $12 million this year to $9 million, and would drop fair housing from $86.4 million to $29.5 million. It would hold CDBG and Native American programs at current levels. It would also decrease HUD staffing by 26%. The Senate Appropriations Committee passed its T-HUD bill on July 24. The text of that bill is not yet available but a summary indicates it provides $1.2 billion for HOME.

The bills passed by the two Appropriations Committees will next be considered by the full House and the full Senate. The House and Senate should resolve any differences between their bills and send final versions to the President for signature by September 30. If they do not meet that deadline, a continuing resolution would be needed to keep the government running. The House began its August recess on July 23. The Senate is scheduled to start its recess August 4. Both will return to Washington after Labor Day.

USDA announces reorganization plan without RD details

On July 24, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced a reorganization of USDA but did not provide details about possible impacts on the Rural Development mission area or its field offices. The document says that staff in the Washington, DC area will be reduced from 4,600 to 2,000. Positions will be moved to five hub locations: Fort Collins, CO; Indianapolis, IN; Kansas City, MO; Raleigh, NC; and Salt Lake City, UT. Service centers and laboratories will remain in locations including St. Louis, MO. The plan also indicates that USDA will “consolidate tribal relations functions within mission areas and ensure the Office of Tribal Relations delivers all statutorily required tribal relations functions.” Deputy Secretary Stephen Vaden is charged with implementing the plan.

Rural Housing Service Awards nominations open

At the 2025 National Rural Housing Conference in November, HAC will present its prestigious Rural Housing Service Awards. These awards recognize individuals whose exceptional leadership, commitment, and lasting contributions have significantly advanced affordable housing and community development in rural America. Submit nominations here by August 29.

RuralSTAT

Use of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) has increased in 14 states over the past 10 years while falling or holding steady elsewhere. Some of the largest declines in SNAP usage have been in rural states, including Arkansas, Iowa, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Tennessee. Interactive graphics are available online. Source: Investigate Midwest analysis of USDA data.

OPPORTUNITIES

Grants available for shelter, housing, and aid to domestic violence survivors and animals

The Justice Department’s Office for Victims of Crime offers grants for shelter, transitional housing, and other assistance to victims of domestic violence and their pets, service animals, emotional support animals, and horses. State, local, and Tribal governments and nonprofit organizations are eligible. Apply by August 15.

USDA has homeownership funds for Native CDFI relending

USDA’s Rural Housing Service will make loans to qualified Native Community Development Financial Institutions, which will then relend funds to low- and very low-income residents to acquire, build, rehabilitate, improve, or relocate dwellings on Tribal Land in rural areas. Applications are due August 29.

Funds offered for public-facing arts projects and activities in Midwestern U.S.

Arts Midwest’s GIG Fund will make grants of $2,000-$15,000 to help Midwestern organizations bring professional artists into their community and host creative, engaging public activities. Eligible applicants are nonprofits, hospitals, clinics, and Tribal organizations in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Wisconsin, or the Native Nations that share this geography. Activities must take place between December 2025 and June 2026. Mandatory Intents to Apply are due September 15 and final applications are due September 29.

REGULATIONS AND FEDERAL AGENCIES

Banking regulators propose to rescind Community Reinvestment Act rule

The federal bank regulatory agencies have suggested rolling back their 2023 regulations for the Community Reinvestment Act. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Reserve Board, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation explain that the 2023 rule has not yet gone into effect, so they do not expect lenders to have difficulty continuing to use the 1995 regulations that preceded the significant changes adopted in 2023. Comments are due August 18.

Separately, the regulators issued the fourth in a series of requests for input on outdated or otherwise unnecessary regulatory requirements, this one focusing on banking operations, capital, and CRA. Comments are due October 23.

HUD ends some FHA appraisal policies

On July 10, HUD and OMB announced they have terminated Federal Housing Administration policies introduced under the former administration’s Property Appraisal and Valuation Equity (PAVE) initiative. A PAVE task force, consisting of 13 departments and agencies including HUD and USDA, was established in 2021 to “evaluate the causes, extent, and consequences of appraisal bias and to establish a transformative set of recommendations to root out racial and ethnic bias in home valuations.” The recent announcement covers three FHA policies, saying that HUD now considers them to be “unnecessary regulatory hurdles imposed on lenders, appraisers, and other program participants.” They were formally terminated on March 19.

Lawsuit challenges conditions on HUD and HHS funding

A coalition of housing, homelessness, and other service providers has filed suit challenging conditions placed on federal grant funding from HUD and the Department of Health and Human Services. The group charges that new grantee requirements for programs including HUD’s Continuum of Care, HOME, and others target diversity, equity, inclusion, and transgender rights, putting life-saving services for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault, LGBTQI+ youth, and unhoused communities at risk.

EVENTS

Rural Housing Preservation Academy to be held in Knoxville

Enterprise Community Partners will host a two-day, in-person Rural Housing Preservation Academy in Knoxville, TN, August 6-7. The event will feature conversations about affordable housing development and preservation in rural communities, highlighting federal, state, and local policies and innovations designed to address rural housing affordability challenges. Register by August 4.

Workshop to uplift rural artists’ and activists’ stories

The Department of Public Transformation is hosting a virtual session, Activate Rural Workshop: From Creative Spaces to Creative Ecosystems, on July 30. Participants will hear from rural artists and activists on how creative spaces have uplifted and supported rural places and economies.

PUBLICATIONS AND MEDIA

Housing costs still out of reach nationwide

As has been the case for years, in 2025 there is no state, metropolitan area, or county in the U.S. where a full-time worker earning the federal minimum wage, or the prevailing state or local minimum wage, can afford a modest two-bedroom rental home at Fair Market Rent. The National Low Income Housing Coalition’s annual Out of Reach report shows that a full-time worker needs to earn an hourly wage of $33.63 to afford the average modest, two-bedroom rental home in the U.S. and $28.17 to afford a modest one-bedroom rental home. The wages needed to rent a modest home far exceed not just the $7.25 federal minimum wage but also the median wages of workers in many of the country’s most common occupations, such as home health aides, food service workers, and administrative assistants. Almost half of all U.S. workers earn less than the hourly wage required to afford a modest one-bedroom rental home.

Public broadcasting funds more important for rural and Tribal stations than urban ones

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which lost more than $1 billion of its appropriated funding under the rescission recently passed by Congress, reports that 245 of its total 544 radio and TV station grantees serve rural audiences. CPB grants provide 17% percent of an average rural station’s revenue, compared to 9% for non-rural stations. Almost half of all rural grantees rely on CPB for at least 25% of their revenue while 33 rural stations – many on Native American reservations – rely on CPB funding for at least half of their revenue. Rural stations also have a harder time raising money from individual donors. A Daily Yonder story provides examples of the importance of public radio stations in some specific rural places and a Politico article points out these stations can be essential in notifying the public about emergencies.

Vermont bans housing discrimination based on citizenship or immigration status

A new state statute adds citizenship and immigration status to categories protected by fair housing law in Vermont. The measure was supported by representatives of undocumented farmworkers, Civil Eats reports, because they are not eligible for assisted housing and it is hard for them to find places they can afford to rent in the state.

HAC

HAC comments on proposal to outsource USDA single-family loan servicing

HAC submitted comments in response to a USDA RD request for input on its plans to hire a vendor to take over a portion of the single-family loan servicing functions currently handled by the Servicing Office in St. Louis. HAC opposes this privatization. Our comments highlighted that servicing for this portfolio is unique due both to the structure of the loan products and the needs of the borrowers served. Any external vendor would have a steep and costly learning curve. Given these unique and complex servicing needs, HAC suggested cost savings from privatization are highly unlikely and asked that any anticipated cost savings be made public before this process moves forward. HAC believes that a better solution lies in adequately staffing the Servicing Office and upgrading its servicing technology.

Need capital for your affordable housing project?

HAC’s loan fund provides low interest rate loans to support single- and multifamily affordable housing projects for low-income rural residents throughout the U.S. and territories. Capital is available for all types of affordable and mixed-income housing projects, including preservation, new development, farmworker, senior and veteran housing. HAC loan funds can be used for pre-development, site acquisition, site development, construction/rehabilitation and permanent financing. Contact HAC’s loan fund staff at hacloanfund@ruralhome.org, 202-842-8600.

Please note: HAC is not able to offer loans to individuals or families. Borrowers must be nonprofit or for-profit organizations or government entities (including Tribes).

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