Appropriations Update
After President Biden submitted his budget on March 9, Congress began developing appropriations bills. The bills will determine funding levels for various housing focused federal programs that we follow closely. House Republican members have been consistent in their messaging that they will seek to reduce funding to 2022 levels. The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities provided an analysis of what the impacts of this may be. We submitted requests to Congress that asked for funding to match the need we all see in our communities, which 2022 funding levels would fail to meet.
Our specific requests were funding the HOME program at $2.5 billion (an increase of 67% from Fiscal Year 2022) and funding the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation at $206 million, with $6 million set aside for shared equity homeownership (an increase of 20% and 50% respectively). The HOME Investment Partnership Program appears particularly vulnerable to potential cuts; therefore, we strongly urge you to reach out to your members of Congress and impress upon them the value of HOME funds to your organizations and communities.
Public comments
Public comment periods are a critical way for federal agencies to hear from organizations, concerned citizens, and more. Grounded Solutions Network submitted several public comment letters in early 2023 aimed at addressing core issues linked to our goal for substantially increasing the scale of housing with lasting affordability. Among those are two that we are bringing to your attention as follows:
First, we submitted a public comment to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) on the topic of reforming the Federal Home Loan Bank system. We emphasized the need for changes to the Affordable Housing Programs to better allow access of these funds by CLTs and shared equity homeownership programs.
Second, we submitted a comment to HUD on their proposed rule on Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH). This letter argues that shared equity ownership and other forms of housing with lasting affordability directly address fair housing by creating stable communities through increasing access to higher opportunity neighborhoods, especially when they face displacement pressures.
