News from Capitol Hill
Appropriations Update
The U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate have both released their appropriations proposals for the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Our assessment of the impact of the still evolving proposals is as follows:
- The Senate’s current proposal featured no substantive funding changes for the programs we closely track.
- NOTE: The current House proposal would cut the HOME program by an alarming two-thirds (from $1.5 billion to just $500 million). If passed, the cuts would have a devastating impact on the affordable homeownership field.
A House subcommittee is seeking to potentially fill the gap (and possibly add to the funding stream) by using remaining funds from the previously approved American Rescue PlanAct that were set aside for HOME (aka HOME ARP). If this approach were included and approved in the final appropriations bills, it would add $5 billion in funding to the HOME program.
However, if the HOME-ARP funding is reallocated to support all eligible HOME activities (which we are not entirely clear is possible), the one-time offset for proposed cuts to the HOME program would create and ongoing challenge of significantly reduced funding for the HOME program in the future years.
We are continuing to monitor the situation along with our multiple national partners and allies, and will circulate a special e-blast notice to all members if a future Call-to-Action is required.
Federal Legislation in Support of Shared Equity Homeownership
Several recently reintroduced bills in Congress prominently feature shared equity homeownership and community land trusts.
The Housing Crisis Response Act of 2023
Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) and several cosponsors have reintroduced the Housing Crisis Response Act, which was initially part of the 2022 Build Back Better (BBB) package of affordable housing resources which narrowly failed to pass The new bill resurrects the Community Restoration and Revitalization Fund from BBB with $3 billion in funding, including:
- A $2 billion planning and implementation grant program that specifically calls out CLTs and shared equity homeownership as eligible activities.
- An additional $500 million program to support the development of community land trusts.
More details on the program, including eligible activities and eligible applicants, can be found here.
Downpayment Toward Equity Act of 2023
Rep. Waters and her cosponsors have also reintroduced the Downpayment Toward Equity Act of 2023 (DTE), which provides proposed funding of $100 billion to support to first-time, first-generation homebuyers with low- or moderate-incomes. Just as we originally advocated for in BBB, the new bill’s language names shared equity homeownership and community land trusts as eligible activities.
A summary and the bill text can be found here.
