Two New PHADA Position Papers
Housing Policy Update
PHADA Priorities for the 118th Congress
PHADA supports the following legislation:
The Public Housing Emergency Response Act (H.R.235) was introduced in the House on January 11, 2023 by Reps. Nydia Velázquez (D-NY) and Dan Goldman (D-NY) to provide $70 billion to the Public Housing Capital Fund to address the capital needs backlog in public housing. This bill is a reintroduction of Rep. Velazquez’s bill from the 117th Congress.
The Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act of 2021 (S.1557) was re-introduced in Congress on May 11, for the fifth consecutive Congress. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) remains the lead sponsor in the Senate, joined by Todd Young (R-IN), Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN). In the House, Suzanne DelBene (D-WA) continues as lead sponsor, joined by new lead co-sponsor Darin LaHood (R-IL). Other lead sponsors in the House are Brad Wenstrup (R-OH), Claudia Tenney (R-NY), Don Beyer (D-VA), and Jimmy Panetta (D-CA).
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FY 24 Appropriations
The White House has proposed its Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 HUD budget, and the House of Representatives and the Senate have both released their FY 24 bills and passed them through their respective Appropriations Committees. There is considerable disagreement across the three budgets, with the White House and Senate budgets proposing modest increases while the House budget generally maintains flat funding while cutting certain programs.
In June, President Biden signed the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, which raised the country’s debt ceiling but also enacted non-defense discretionary spending caps for the FY 24 and FY 25 budgets. These caps place the FY 24 discretionary budget at approximately FY 23 levels. However, the Senate has appropriated additional emergency funding that allows its FY 24 budget to exceed those caps.
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New PHADA Resources: Climate Funding for Housing Authorities
Federal Financial Assistance & New Technologies in Home and Multifamily Construction
The Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law include substantial financial assistance targeting buildings to reduce energy use and costs, reduce emissions, and increase resiliency in the face of increasing natural disasters.
PHADA will continue to provide information on new resources and strategies, and members are urged to connect with state and local stakeholders, including utility companies, entities that implement local weatherization programs, finance agencies that administer federal tax credits, and more, to begin building partnerships now to take advantage of these opportunities as they become available.
Download the PDF publication.
PHADA Writes to Appropriators About TARs Concerns
On July 6, PHADA wrote to the Chairs and Ranking Members of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees sharing our concerns about tenant accounts receivable (TARs) and asking Congress to fully fund the Public Housing Operating Fund and to provide adequate shortfall funding for HAs. As discussed in the previous edition of the Advocate, HUD recently provided data to PHADA and other industry groups that show continued high TARs levels across the public housing portfolio.
Read the Full Letter.