PHADA President John T. Mahon.
PHADA held its annual Legislative Forum September 7–9 at the Royal Sonesta Hotel on Capitol Hill. The meeting was timely, providing us with the opportunity to meet with HUD officials, members of Congress, and their staff as they work on the FY 26 HUD appropriations bill and other important legislation. While in Washington, PHADA’s various committees also addressed some policy objectives and other organizational priorities.
2026 HUD Appropriations
The major issue right now is the FY 26 federal budget. Members fanned out across Capitol Hill to advocate that lawmakers adopt a Continuing Resolution (CR) so they can finish the appropriations process—we hope before this year’s end.
Adoption of the CR is essential in our view, but there are serious concerns about a possible government shutdown. In any case, we will continue to ask Congress to enact appropriations that include adequate funding for our programs. Specific figures are outlined in PHADA’s appropriations Position Paper, which is available on page 15. The Washington staff will keep members informed on the CR and other important issues, so keep your eye out for email alerts and other timely communications.
PHADA’s Committee Work
The PHADA Board of Trustees considered some policy-related items coming out of our committee meetings. One of the most prominent issues was HUD’s recent publication of notices requiring HAs to implement “cash management” in public housing. As I have noted previously, we are concerned that HUD’s recent issuances effectively rewrite existing operating fund regulations and procedures. The changes will result in large administrative burdens, increased costs, and possible resident services cuts.
Some of the most concerning provisions include those requiring HAs to now classify rental income and other revenue sources as “program income.” HUD also dictates that such program income must be expended first before operating subsidy. In addition, some of the new procedures conflict with current regulations governing operating reserves, financial assessment indicators, and subsidy expenditures.
The changes are so considerable, there is some thought that HUD may have to go through formal rulemaking to institute them. Along with our industry partners, we are exploring a legal review. We are also asking that, at a minimum, HUD delay implementation because neither the Department nor HAs are ready to institute such massive changes.
Our Board also agreed to support the MTW Collaborative’s position on Senate legislation that does not provide sufficient flexibility and deregulation that HAs need. We will continue to ask Congress for more local discretion as it considers MTW legislation.
HUD Officials and Two Key Representatives
We appreciated that Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for PIH, Ben Hobbs and other HUD officials, including Tom Davis, addressed the group. They discussed the Department’s priorities, including RAD rents, coming rules on work requirements and time limits, and another rule focused on non-citizens residing in “mixed status” households. We will publish more information and comment on those important regulations as soon as more details are released.
On a positive note, HUD staff said that the deadlines for compliance with NSPIRE-V inspections will be extended and that the 30-day notice rule will be rescinded. Both revisions were pushed by PHADA, and we appreciate HUD’s actions. For more information, see the more detailed article on page 9.
Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) has been a semi-regular speaker at our meetings and again voiced staunch support for the need for Congress to dedicate more resources to public and assisted housing programs.
We were also pleased that Rep. Mike Flood (R-NE) addressed the group. Flood is quite influential on legislation and policy as the chairperson of the House’s housing subcommittee. There were several other informative panels on Fair Housing, the budget deficit and debt, emergency housing vouchers, and the new Low Income Housing Tax Credit provisions.
Conclusion
The Legislative Forum was quite productive. I want to thank the hundreds of members who took the time to come to Washington and the efforts of the PHADA staff for their work on the meeting.
I am looking forward to seeing even more of you, commissioners, and first-time attendees at our Commissioners’ Conference in Tampa this coming January. We will have several informative sessions featuring the latest on the 2026 HUD budget, cash management, HOTMA, BABA, and other key issues. Registration opens early October. For the schedule, hotel, and other information, please visit our website.