Late last week, the Senate Appropriations Committee released the chairman’s mark of 12 senate appropriations bills, including the fiscal year 2023 (FY23) Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD) Senate appropriations bill and the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration and Related Agencies Senate appropriations bill.

The FY23 THUD bill would allocate $70 billion for HUD, including $10.3 billion in offsets for HUD’s housing and community development programs, an increase of $4.3 billion above FY22. The FY23 Agriculture bill increases funding for key housing programs including doubling of money for Section 515 Rural Rental Housing compared to FY22. However, because the Senate bills are not bipartisan and no agreement has been reached for FY23 funding levels, the level of funding for these programs remains uncertain.

The THUD bill includes robust funding for many of Enterprise’s policy priorities, including:

• $30.2 billion for Tenant-Based Rental Assistance, $866 million lower than the House-passed bill but $2.8 billion over FY22, including $50 million to expand housing assistance to nearly 5,000 low-income families
• $14.7 billion for Project-Based Rental Assistance, $200 million below the House-passed bill but $747 million above FY22
• $8.5 billion for public housing, $200 million below the House-passed bill but $17 million over FY22
• $3.52 billion for Community Development Block Grants, $225 million above the House-passed bill and $220 million over FY22
• $1.725 billion for the HOME Investment Partnerships Program, the highest funding level in over a decade, which is $39 million above the House-passed bill and $225 million above FY22
• $43 million for Section 4, $4 million below the House-passed bill but $2 million over FY22. The Senate language also includes a $1 million set aside for Section 4 grants to native communities
• $324 million for the CDFI fund, $29 million over FY22 and slightly below the House’s $336 million mark
• The FY23 THUD bill would also permanently authorize HUD’s Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) program.

The Agriculture and Rural Development bill includes robust funding for housing in rural areas, including: 

• $1.5 billion for Section 502 single family direct loans and $30 billion for guaranteed loans, the same as the House passed bill. The bill represents an increase of $250 million over FY22 for direct loans, with no increase for guaranteed loans
• $20.8 million for a Native American single family re-lending demonstration program, $7.2 million over the House passed bill. This is a new program proposed for FY23  
• $30 million for Section 504 Home Repair Program loans and $32 million for grants, an increase of $2 million over the House passed bill for Loans and the same amount for grants. The bill represents an increase of $2 million for loans over FY22
• $35 million for Section 514 Farm Labor Housing loans and $14 million for Section 516 Farm Labor Housing Grants, an increase of $5 million for loans and $2 million for grants compared to the House passed bill. The bill represents an increase of $7 million for loans and $4 million for grants over FY22 
• $100 million for Section 515 Rural Rental Housing Direct Loans, a decrease of $50 million compared to the House bill but a doubling of the $50 million included in the FY22 bill for the program
• $1.48 billion for Section 521 Rental Assistance, a decrease of $6 million from the House bill but an increase of $38 million from FY22 
• $400 million for Section 538 Rental Housing Guaranteed Loans, $100 million more than the House passed bill and $150 million more than the FY23 bill

As Congress works to enact FY23 appropriations legislation before the October 1 deadline, Enterprise urges legislators to secure the most robust funding levels for these critical affordable housing and community development programs.

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