HUD Funding at Risk; Call Your Representatives TODAY!

May 7, 2014
House HUD Funding Subcommittee Releases FY 2015 Spending Bill This morning, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released its fiscal year (FY) 2015 funding bill for programs under its jurisdiction, including all programs within HUD. The legislation includes $2.105 billion for HUD's McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Grants, the same amount as last year and $300 below the level proposed by the Administration. Simply put, this funding level is unacceptable. Due to expiring multi-year grants and increased renewal demand, a $2.105 billion funding level would result in funding cuts to Continuums of Care. Communities would be required to once again make the difficult tiering/prioritization decisions they made for the FY 2013 NOFA. Flat funding for McKinney would mean a step back in our efforts to prevent and end homelessness in America. Now, we need our Representatives to hear that HUD's McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Grants NEED MORE MONEY! Here's What You Can Do: Call your Represntatives' offices TODAY! Ask to speak to the person who handles housing issues. You can find their number by calling the congressional switchboard at (202) 224-3121.  Ask them to urge their boss to provide increases for homeless assistance and affordable housing programs in the final FY 2015 funding legislation. Tell them the negative impact flat funding would have on your community's programs.   You can use these talking points to help you make your case.   Encourage others to call, too! Please forward this alert to your partners and anyone else interested in ensuring Congress robustly funds homeless assistance and low-income housing programs. Let us know who you contacted and what they said!    Further Information on FY 2015 HUD Funding  The House Appropriations Subcommittee's HUD funding bill not only flat funded HUD's McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Grants, the overall proposed funding level for HUD programs is $769 million lower than last year, and $2 billion less than the funding level requested by the Administration. In the bill, the Public Housing Capital Fund and HOME both receive large cuts and Section 8 Vouchers lost from sequestration are not restored. All told, the House bill would be a disaster for HUD. This legislation, if enacted, would result in a huge step backward for housing and homelessness programs. When Congress enacted the Bipartisan Budget Agreement last December (the legislation that set the overall cap for federal spending in FY 2015), there was widespread agreement that effective programs serving our lowest-income people would continue to be able to do good work. This bill will not move us forward and will prove a great impediment to our work preventing and ending homelessness in America. Congress needs to know that failing to increase funding for programs that serve the most vulnerable people in our society will have devastating effects. We MUST make sure that Congress understands the importance of programs that prevent and end homelessness and the need to provide funding increases in FY 2015. Let Congress know NOW that it is imperative to increase FY 2015 funding for programs targeted toward those at risk of or experiencing homelessness.	TOOLKIT McKinney Congressional Talking Points Five Things Wrong with the House Bill to Fund Housing Assistance McKinney One Pager BUILDING POLITICAL WILL The Alliance works collaboratively with its local, state, and national partners to advance policies and programs that prevent and end homelessness. CONTACT US Kate Seif  Policy Outreach Coordinator  cseif@naeh.org QUICK LINKS Advocacy Advocacy Tools Legislative Updates Advocacy Update Archive Policy