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Congressional action on housing appropriations may face delays
Lame-duck Congress unlikely to pass bill
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SEATTLE—November 29, 2006—Predicting
what will happen with appropriations decisions in the U.S.
Congress has always been a difficult business. With the
recent mid-term elections shifting the balance of power in
Congress from the Republicans to the Democrats, the future
becomes even harder to predict.
Members of Congress return to Washington, D.C. on Dec. 5 to
take up their work. And while there are high expectations
from Democratic Party members that the new Democratic
majority will deliver on a more progressive social agenda,
Democratic Party leaders appear initially to be taking a
fairly cautious approach.
Appropriations for Housing
Among
the appropriations bills to be considered in December is the
“Transportation, Treasury and Housing and Urban Development
Bill,” which is identified as House Resolution 5576 (or,
more commonly, HR5576).
Because there will be so little time in December to consider
complex legislation, the ten remaining appropriations bills
for 2007 may not receive full consideration. Congress has
two options – the bills can be combined into big packages
known as “Omnibus Bills” and passed with little discussion,
or another Continuing Resolution can be enacted to extent
consideration into next year, after all of the new members
of Congress have taken office. It is looking increasingly
likely that Congress will take this latter route, which
could extend well into the next year. |
Web sites
for information on pending federal legislation
Want
to stay up to date on appropriations issues? Here are some
helpful Web sites to check regularly:
The Thomas site
This site (named after Thomas Jefferson) provides up-to-date
information on the status of bills. By putting in the bill
number (HR5576) you can find the actual text of the bill and
check on its status.
NAHRO
The National Association of Housing and Redevelopment
Officials often posts information on appropriations or other
federal legislation on their home page.
The Low-Income
Housing Alliance
The National Low Income Housing Coalition follows federal
legislation and represents the interests of low-income
residents and homeless people across the country.
Center on Budget & Policy Priorities
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities is a Washington,
D.C. policy center that analyzes the effects of proposed
legislation on various programs.
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According to
political analysts at the National Association of Housing and
Redevelopment Officials (of which SHA is a member), “The size,
complexity and funding challenges of the TTHUD bill (HR5576) make
its future among the most uncertain.” The funding competition for
domestic programs remains fierce.
The Senate has
already passed its version of this bill, which has $2 billion more
for its programs than provided by the House version.
Saul Ramirez,
Executive Director of NAHRO, is cautiously optimistic about the new
Congress: “None of the members [who support housing] can quickly or
completely turn our fiscal situation around. The hole, with respect
to the federal budget deficit, is deep. In addition, we are fighting
a war and simultaneously dealing with ongoing national security
concerns – both of which have doggedly tested our ability to
request, never mind sustain, domestic spending increases.”
At the levels
of funding currently being proposed, funding for public housing
across the country could be reduced. This is consistent with the
pattern we have experienced over the past fifteen years. According
to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, “Public housing
funding has decreased $1 billion since 2000.” At the proposed
funding levels, SHA could experience a decrease in subsidy of up to
$900,000 over what was received last year.
The Center on
Budget and Policy Priorities warns housing advocates that the
current funding outlook is bleak: “The appropriations bill passed by
the House would provide agencies with only about 79 percent of the
public housing operating subsidies for which they are legally
eligible under the federal formula for determining operating subsidy
needs. This would be the deepest shortfall in operating subsidy
funding in more than 25 years.”
In spite of
these difficulties, however, Lisa Cipollone-Wolters, SHA’s director
of advocacy, stresses that low-income residents and advocates
continue to be well represented by our Congressional delegation. “We
greatly appreciate the support shown by Senator Patty Murray and
other members of the delegation,” she said. “Senator Murray is
working hard to ensure full funding of Section 8, which is a vital
piece in addressing housing affordability in the Puget Sound
region.”
Information
from the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment
Officials, the National Low Income Housing Coalition and the Center
on Budget and Policy Priorities was used in compiling the
information in this article.
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