Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD): FY2016 Appropriations

November 18, 2015 (R44070)
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Summary

The House and Senate Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD) appropriations subcommittees are charged with providing annual appropriations for the Department of Transportation (DOT), Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and related agencies. THUD programs receive both discretionary and mandatory budget authority; HUD's budget generally accounts for the largest share of discretionary appropriations in the THUD bill, but when mandatory funding is taken into account, DOT's budget is larger than HUD's budget. Mandatory funding typically accounts for around half of the THUD appropriation.

The FY2015 THUD bill's appropriation totaled $107.3 billion: $53.8 billion in net discretionary funding and $53.5 billion in mandatory funding. The Administration requested net budget authority of $134.7 billion (after scorekeeping adjustments) for the agencies funded by the THUD bill for FY2016, an increase of $27.4 billion (26%). Most of this increase was for highway, transit, and passenger rail programs in DOT, reflecting the increased funding proposed in the Administration's surface transportation reauthorization proposal.

The House-passed bill (H.R. 2577) includes net budget authority of $108.7 billion for THUD in FY2016, $55.3 billion in discretionary funding and $53.5 billion in mandatory funding. In total, this is a 1% increase over FY2015 levels (+3% discretionary reduced by smaller offsets, about level mandatory funding). The Administration has issued a Statement of Administration Policy for H.R. 2577 criticizing the funding levels and certain provisions in the bill, saying that the President's advisors would recommend that the bill be vetoed. The Senate Committee on Appropriations recommended $109.1 billion in net budget authority and omitted certain provisions that the Administration had objected to, such as limitations on travel to Cuba.

DOT: The Administration requested a total of $93.7 billion in discretionary and mandatory funding for DOT for FY2016, an increase of roughly $22 billion (31%) over FY2015. The House-passed H.R. 2577 would provide $70.6 billion for DOT, $646 million less than in FY2015. The reductions were primarily to the TIGER grant program (-$400 million), the New Starts transit grant program (-$199 million), and Amtrak capital grants (-$252 million). The Senate-reported bill recommends $71.3 billion, $35 million below the FY2015 level; the major change from FY2015 levels is a proposed cut of 25% ($535 million) to the New Starts transit grant program.

HUD: The President requested $40.6 billion in net new budget authority for HUD for FY2016, $5 billion more than provided in FY2015 ($35.6 billion). The House-passed H.R. 2577 includes $37.7 billion for HUD, $2.1 billion above FY2015. Of that increase, $1.1 billion is attributable to a reduction in savings from offsetting receipts from the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). The bulk of the remainder of the increase is directed to funding the renewal costs of the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher and project-based rental assistance programs. The Senate-reported H.R. 2577 recommends $37.6 billion in net new budget authority, representing $850 million more in appropriations and $1.1 billion to make up for reduced offsets compared to the FY2015 level. Like the House-passed version, it prioritizes funding for Section 8 rental assistance.

Related Agencies: The Administration requested a total of $351 million for the agencies in Title III (the Related Agencies). This is about $1 million more than they received in FY2015. The House-passed H.R. 2577 would provide $342 million for the related agencies, cutting $8 million from the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation. The Senate-reported H.R. 2577 recommends $306 million, the $45 million reduction would come from the Neighborhood Investment Corporation.

The Senate Committee on Appropriations released a substitute amendment to H.R. 2577 on November 18, 2015; see the "Recent Developments" box on page 3 for detail.


Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD): FY2016 Appropriations

Introduction to Transportation, HUD, and Related Agencies (THUD) Appropriations

The Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD) appropriations subcommittees are charged with drafting bills to provide annual appropriations for the Department of Transportation (DOT), the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and six small related agencies.

Title I of the annual THUD appropriations bill funds DOT. The department is primarily a grant-making and regulatory organization. Its programs are organized roughly by mode of transportation, providing grants to state and local government agencies to support the construction of highways, transit, and intercity passenger rail infrastructure, while overseeing safety in the rail, public transportation, commercial trucking and intercity bus, and maritime industries. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is exceptional among DOT's large sub-agencies in that the largest portion of its budget is not for grants but for operating the U.S. air traffic control system. In support of that task, it employs over 80% of DOT's total workforce, roughly 46,000 of DOT's approximately 56,000 employees.

Title II of the annual THUD appropriations bill funds HUD. The department's programs are primarily designed to address housing problems faced by households with very low incomes or other special housing needs. These include several programs of rental assistance for persons who are poor, elderly, and/or have disabilities. Three rental assistance programs—Public Housing, Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers, and Section 8 project-based rental assistance—account for the majority of the department's funding. Two flexible block grant programs—the HOME Investment Partnership Program and Community Development Block Grants (CDBG)—help communities finance a variety of housing and community development activities designed to serve low-income families. Other, more specialized grant programs help communities meet the needs of homeless persons, including those with AIDS. HUD's Federal Housing Administration (FHA) insures mortgages made by lenders to home buyers with low down payments and to developers of multifamily rental buildings containing relatively affordable units.

Title III of the THUD appropriations bill funds a collection of agencies involved in transportation or housing and community development. They include the Access Board, the Federal Maritime Commission, the National Transportation Safety Board, the Amtrak Office of Inspector General (IG), the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation (often referred to as NeighborWorks), the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, and the costs associated with the government conservatorship and regulation of the housing-related government-sponsored enterprises, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Budget Concepts Relevant to THUD Appropriations

Most of the programs and activities in the THUD bill are funded through regular annual appropriations, also referred to as discretionary appropriations.1 This is the amount of new funding allocated each year by the appropriations committees. Appropriations are drawn from the general fund of the Treasury. For some accounts, the appropriations committees provide advance appropriations, or regular appropriations that are not available until the next fiscal year.

In some years, Congress will also provide emergency appropriations, usually in response to disasters. These funds are sometimes provided outside of the regular appropriations acts—often in emergency supplemental spending bills—generally in addition to regular annual appropriations. Although emergency appropriations typically come from the general fund, they may not be included in the discretionary appropriation total reported for an agency.

Most of the Department of Transportation's budget is in the form of contract authority. Contract authority is a form of mandatory budget authority based on federal trust fund resources, in contrast to discretionary budget authority, which is based on resources in the general fund. Contract authority controls spending from the Highway Trust Fund and the Airport and Airway Trust Fund. When the Appropriations Committee subcommittees are given their 302(b) allocations, those figures include only net discretionary budget authority (nonemergency appropriations, less any offsets and rescissions); contract authority from trust funds is not subject to that limitation. This can lead to confusion when comparing totals, as the total annual discretionary budget authority for THUD is typically around half of the total funding provided in the bill, with the remainder made up of mandatory contract authority.

Congressional appropriators are generally subject to limits on the amount of new nonemergency discretionary funding they can provide in a year. One way to stay within these limits is to appropriate no more than the allocated amount of discretionary funding in the regular annual appropriations act. Another way is to find ways to offset a higher level of discretionary funding. A portion of the cost of regular annual appropriations for the THUD bill is generally offset in two ways. The first is through rescissions, or cancellations of unobligated or recaptured balances from previous years' funding. The second is through offsetting receipts and collections, generally derived from fees collected by federal agencies.

THUD Funding Trends

Table 1 shows funding trends for DOT and HUD over the period FY2009-FY2015, omitting emergency funding and other supplemental funding. The purpose of Table 1 is to indicate trends in the funding for these agencies; thus emergency supplemental appropriations are not included in the figures.

Table 1. Funding Trends for Department of Transportation and Department of Housing and Urban Development, FY2009-FY2015

(In billions of current dollars)

Department

FY2009a

FY2010

FY2011

FY2012

FY2013b

FY2014

FY2015

DOT

$67.2

$75.7

$68.7

$71.6

$70.7

$71.2

$71.3

HUD

41.5

46.9

41.1

37.4

33.5

32.8

36.9

Source: U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Appropriations, Comparative Statement of Budget Authority tables from FY2010 through FY2016. Unless otherwise noted, amounts are reduced to reflect across-the-board rescissions.

a. FY2009 figures do not reflect $61.8 billion in emergency economic stimulus funding (P.L. 111-5).

b. FY2013 figures do not reflect $29 billion in emergency funding for recovery from Hurricane Sandy (P.L. 113-2) or reductions due to sequestration.

Status of the FY2016 THUD Appropriations Bill

Recent Developments

On November 18, 2015, the Senate Committee on Appropriations released a substitute amendment to H.R. 2577 that increases the net total of discretionary funding in the bill by $1.6 billion, reflecting the Balanced Budget Act of 2015 (P.L. 114-74, signed into law on November 2, 2015), which increased the amount of budget authority available for nondefense accounts for FY2016 by $24.6 billion. The DOT total changed from $71.251 billion to $71.941 billion; the HUD total changed from $37.556 billion to $38.490 billon; Related Agencies accounts were not changed (Table 4). Specifically, the following accounts were changed:

Department of Transportation (Table 6)

  • the National Infrastructure Investment (TIGER) grant account changed from $500 million to $600 million
  • the FAA Facilities & Equipment account changed from $2.6 billion to $2.855 billion
  • the FTA Capital investment grants (New Starts) account changed from $1.585 billion to $1.896 billion
  • the MARAD account changed from $373 million to $397 million

Department of Housing and Urban Development (Table 7)

  • the HOME Investment Partnerships account changed from $66 million to $900 million
  • the Community Development Fund account changed from $2.9 billion to $3 billion
  • the HUD total changed from $37.556 billion to $38.490 billion

The remainder of this report has not been updated to reflect the substitute amendment.

Table 2 provides a time line of legislative action on the FY2016 THUD appropriations bill.

Table 2. Status of FY2016 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations

Bill

Subcommittee Markup

House Report

House Passage

Senate Report

Senate Passage

Conf. Report

Conference Approval

Public Law

 

House

Senate

 

 

 

 

 

House

Senate

 

H.R. 2577

4/29/2015

(voice vote)

6/23/2015

5/13/2015

30-21

H.Rept. 114-129

6/9/2015

216-210

6/25/2015

S.Rept. 114-75

 

 

 

 

 

Source: CRS Appropriations Status Table.

FY2016 THUD Discretionary Funding Allocation

The annual budget resolution provides a budgetary framework within which Congress considers legislation affecting spending and revenue. It sets forth spending and revenue levels, enforced by the rules of each chamber, including spending allocations to House and Senate Appropriations Committees. After the House and Senate Appropriations Committees receive their discretionary spending allocations from the budget resolution (referred to as 302(a) allocations), they divide their allocations among their 12 subcommittees, each of which is responsible for one of the 12 regular appropriations bills. The allocations to each of the subcommittees are referred to as 302(b) allocations.

The FY2016 budget resolution was agreed to by the House on April 30, 2015, and the Senate on May 6, 2015 (H.Con.Res. 27 and S.Con.Res. 11). It set an overall base discretionary spending limit of $1.017 trillion for FY2016, an increase from the FY2015 level of $1.014 trillion and consistent with the current statutory spending limits under the Budget Control Act, as amended.

The current Section 302(b) allocation for the Senate THUD subcommittee is $376 million more than that provided for the House subcommittee. This difference creates an additional difficulty in reaching agreement on a final FY2016 THUD appropriation level. Table 3 shows the discretionary funding provided for THUD in FY2015, the Administration request for FY2016, and the amount allocated by the House and Senate Appropriations Committees to the THUD subcommittees. Table 4 lists the total funding provided for each of the titles in the bill for FY2015 and the amount requested for that title for FY2016.

As discussed earlier, much of the funding for this bill is in the form of contract authority, a type of mandatory budget authority. Thus, the discretionary funding provided in the bill is only about half of the total funding provided in this bill.

Table 3. THUD FY2015 Discretionary Funding Appropriation and FY2016 302(b) Allocations

(in billions of dollars)

FY2015 Enacted

FY2016

 

Budget Request

House 302(b)

Senate 302(b)

$53.772

$65.0

$55.27

$55.646

Source: Figures are current as of the date of this report and are taken from the budget table in H.Rept. 114-129; House 302(b) from H.Rept. 114-118; Senate 302(b) from S.Rept. 114-55.

Note: FY2015 enacted and FY2016 request are net of advance appropriations, rescissions, offsetting collections, and other adjustments.

FY2016 THUD Funding

As shown in Table 4, the President's FY2016 budget requested $134.7 billion for the programs in the THUD bill, $27.4 billion more than appropriated for THUD in FY2015. Most of this increase was for highway, transit, and rail funding under the Administration's surface transportation reauthorization proposal; the request for DOT is $22 billion over FY2015. The request for HUD is $5 billion more than provided in FY2015, but $1.1 billion of that increase reflects a decline in savings available from offsetting receipts.

Table 4. Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations, FY2015-FY2016

(in millions of dollars)

Title

FY2015 Enacted

FY2016 Request

FY2016 House
H.R. 2577

FY2016 Senate Committee
H.R. 2577

FY2016 Enacted

Title I: Transportation

 

 

 

 

 

Title I Discretionary

17,801

24,008

17,181

17,784

 

Title 1 Mandatory

53,485

69,666

53,460

53,467

 

Title I Total

71,286

93,674

70,640

71,251

 

Title II: Housing and Urban Development

35,621

40,640

37,739

37,556

 

Title III: Related Agencies

350

351

342

306

 

Total

107,257

134,666

108,722

109,113

 

Net Total Discretionary

53,772

65,000

55,262

55,646

 

Total Mandatory

53,485

69,666

53,460

53,467

 

Sources: Table prepared by CRS based on information in H.Rept. 114-129 and S.Rept. 114-75.

Note: Figures are net after rescissions, offsets, and other adjustments. Figures include advance appropriations provided in the bill, rather than advance appropriations that will become available in the fiscal year. The former are the amounts generally shown in committee press releases; the latter are the amounts against which the committee is generally "scored" for purposes of budget enforcement. Totals may not add up due to rounding and scorekeeping adjustments.

The House-passed H.R. 2577 provides a total of $108.7 billion for THUD in FY2016. While this appears to be $1.5 billion over the net budgetary resources amount provided in FY2015, after accounting for a projected $1.1 billion reduction in offsetting receipts to HUD in FY2016 and the effects of $400 million in rescissions of funding in the FY2015 bill, the actual amount of new funding recommended in the House bill is virtually identical to the FY2015 level. The Senate-reported H.R. 2577 recommends $109.1 billion for THUD; after accounting for the differences in rescissions and offsetting receipts in FY2015, this represents an increase of less than 1% over FY2015 funding. This situation is explored further in the next section of this report and Table 5.

How a $1.5-Billion Increase in FY2016 Budget Authority Turns Out to Be Level Funding—the Impact of Offsets

In the case of the THUD bill, net discretionary budget authority (which is the level of funding measured against the 302(b) allocation) is not the same as the amount of new discretionary budget authority made available to THUD agencies, due to budgetary savings available from rescissions and offsets. Each dollar available to the subcommittees in rescissions and offsets enables the subcommittee to provide funding that does not count against the 302(b) level. As shown in Table 5, in FY2015, due to rescissions and offsets, the THUD subcommittees were able to provide $10.1 billion in discretionary appropriations to THUD agencies above the net discretionary budget authority level.

Table 5. Budget Adjustments in FY2016 THUD Appropriations Bill

(in millions of dollars)

Components of THUD Budget Authority

FY2015 Enacted

FY2016 House Committee
H.R. 2577

Change FY2015 to FY2016

Gross New Discretionary Appropriations

$63,906

$63,931

+$25

New Discretionary Appropriations

59,506

59,531

+25

Advance Appropriation

4,400

4,400

0

Minus Savings

-10,134

-8,669

-1,465

Rescissions of Prior Year Funding and Contract Authority

-396

-14

-382

Offsetting Collections and Receipts

-9,738

-8,655

-1,083

Net Total Discretionary Budget Authority

$53,772

$55,262

+1,490

Limitation on Obligations (Mandatory Funding)

$53,485

453,460

-25

Source: Table prepared by CRS based on Comparative Statement of New Budget (Obligational) Authority for Fiscal Year 2016, H.Rept. 114-129.

The amount of these "budget savings" can vary from year to year, meaning that the "cost" in terms of 302(b) allocation of providing the same level of appropriations may vary as well. Due to a $1.1 billion reduction in offsetting collections in FY2016 compared to FY2015, it "cost" the House THUD subcommittee an additional $1.1 billion in discretionary funding in FY2016 to provide the same level of total funding as provided in FY2015, all else being equal. Combined with a decrease in rescissions in their FY2016 proposal, the House THUD subcommittee's $1.5 billion increase in 302(b) allocation over THUD's net FY2015 level ends up as a $25 million increase. And since the subcommittee also proposed reducing the mandatory funding level by $25 million, the net change for FY2016 becomes zero.

Detailed Tables and Selected Key Issues

Title I: Department of Transportation

Table 6 presents FY2016 appropriations totals and selected accounts for DOT, compared to FY2015 enacted levels. A brief summary of key highlights follows the table. For an expanded discussion, see CRS Report R44063, Department of Transportation (DOT): FY2016 Appropriations, by [author name scrubbed].

Table 6. Department of Transportation FY2015-FY2016 Detailed Budget Table

(in millions of current dollars)

Department of Transportation Selected Account

FY2015 Enacted

FY2016 Request

FY2016 House
H.R. 2577

FY2016 Senate Committee
H.R. 2577

FY2016 Enacted

Office of the Secretary (OST)

Payments to Air Carriers (Essential Air Service)a

155

175

155

175

 

National infrastructure investments (TIGER)

500

1,250

100

500

 

Safe transport of oil

5

 

Total, OST

803

1,612

389

835

 

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)

Operations

9,741

9,915

9,845

9,898

 

Facilities & equipment

2,600

2,855

2,503

2,600

 

Research, engineering, & development

157

166

157

163

 

Grants-in-aid for airports (Airport Improvement Program) (limitation on obligations)

3,350

2,900

3,350

3,350

 

Total, FAA

15,847

15,836

15,855

16,011

 

Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)

Limitation on administrative expenses

426

442

429

429

 

Federal-aid highways (limitation on obligations)

40,256

50,068

40,256

40,256

 

Total, FHWA

40,995

51,307

40,995

40,995

 

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA)

Motor carrier safety operations and programs

271

329

259

259

 

Motor carrier safety grants to states

313

339

313

313

 

Total, FMCSA

584

669

572

572

 

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)

Operations and research

269

331

278

249

 

Highway traffic safety grants to states (limitation on obligations)

562

577

562

576

 

Total, NHTSA

830

908

840

825

 

Federal Railroad Administration (FRA)

Safety and operations

187

204

190

199

 

Research and development

39

39

39

39

 

Rail service improvement program

2,325

 

Current passenger rail service

2,450

 

Amtrak operating grants

250

289

289

 

Amtrak capital and debt service grants

1,140

859

1,102

 

Total Amtrak grants

1,390

2,450

1,148

1,390

 

Total, FRA

1,626

5,018

1,377

1,678

 

Federal Transit Administration (FTA)

Formula grants (M)

8,595

13,800

8,595

8,595

 

Capital investment grants (New Starts)

2,120

3,250

1,921

1,585

 

Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority

150

150

100

150

 

FTA Total

10,887

18,399

10,745

10,463

 

Maritime Administration (MARAD)

341

407

357

373

 

Assistance to small shipyards

4

 

5

 

Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA)

Subtotal

220

256

227

218

 

Offsetting user fees

-127

-154

-125

-127

 

Emergency preparedness grants (M)

29

29

29

29

 

PHMSA Net Total

94

102

103

91

 

Office of Inspector General

86

87

86

87

 

Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation

32

36

29

28

 

Surface Transportation Board (STB)

Salaries and expenses

31

32

31

32

 

Offsetting collections

-1

-1

-1

-1

 

STB Net Total

30

31

30

31

 

DOT Totals

Appropriation (discretionary funding)

18,184

24,016

17,179

17,784

 

Limitations on obligations (M)

53,485

69,666

53,460

53,467

 

Subtotal—new funding

71,284

89,744

70,639

71,251

 

Rescissions of discretionary funding

-122

-31

 

Rescissions of contract authority

-260

 

Offsetting collections

-1

-7

-1

-1

 

Net new discretionary funding

17,801

24,008

17,180

17,816

 

Net new budget authority

$71,286

$93,674

$70,639

$71,251

 

Sources: Table prepared by CRS based on information in H.R. 2577 and H.Rept. 114-129 and S.Rept. 114-75.

Notes: "M" stands for mandatory budget authority. Line items may not add up to the subtotals due to omission of some accounts. Subtotals and totals may differ from those in the source documents due to treatment of rescissions, offsetting collections, and other adjustments. The figures in this table reflect new budget authority made available for the fiscal year. For budgetary calculation purposes, the source documents may subtract rescissions of prior year funding or contract authority, or offsetting collections, in calculating subtotals and totals.

a. The EAS program also receives an additional amount in mandatory budget authority; see discussion below.

DOT in Brief

House Action

For DOT, the House-passed H.R. 2577 would provide the following:

Senate Action

For DOT, the Senate Committee on Appropriations recommended:

President's Budget

The Administration's budget proposal for DOT included the following:

Title II: Department of Housing and Urban Development

Table 7 presents an account-by-account summary of FY2016 appropriations proposals for HUD, compared to FY2015 enacted levels. It is followed by a brief summary of key highlights. For an expanded discussion, see CRS Report R44059, Department of Housing and Urban Development: FY2016 Appropriations, coordinated by [author name scrubbed].

Table 7. HUD FY2015 Detailed Budget Table

(In billions of dollars)

Accounts

FY2015 Enacted

FY2016 Request

FY2016 House
H.R. 2577

FY2016 Senate Committee
H.R. 2577

FY2016 Enacted

Appropriations

 

 

 

 

 

Salaries and Expenses (Mgmt. & Adm.)

1.314

1.425

1.341

1.378

 

Tenant-Based Rental Assistance (Sec. 8 vouchers)a

19.304

21.123

19.919

19.935

 

Rental Assistance Demonstration

0.000b

0.050

0.000

0.000

 

Public housing capital fund

1.875

1.970

1.681

1.743

 

Public housing operating fund

4.440

4.600

4.440

4.500

 

Choice Neighborhoods

0.080

0.250

0.020

0.065

 

Family Self Sufficiency

0.075

0.085

0.075

0.075

 

Native American housing block grants

0.650

0.660

0.650

0.710c

 

Indian housing loan guarantee

0.007

0.008

0.008

0.007

 

Native Hawaiian block grant

0.009

0.000d

0.000

0.000

 

Native Hawaiian loan guarantee

0.000e

0.000d

0.000

0.000

 

Housing, persons with AIDS (HOPWA)

0.330

0.332

0.335

0.330

 

Community Development Fund (Including CDBG)

3.066

2.880

3.060

2.900c

 

HOME Investment Partnerships

0.900

1.060

0.767f

0.066

 

Self-Help Homeownership

0.050g

0.000h

0.050g

0.056

 

Homeless Assistance Grants

2.135

2.480

2.185

2.235

 

Project-Based Rental Assistance (Sec. 8)i

9.730

10.760

10.654

10.826

 

Housing for the Elderly

0.420

0.455

0.417

0.420

 

Housing for Persons with Disabilities

0.135

0.177

0.152

0.137

 

Housing Counseling Assistancej

0.047

0.060

0.047

0.047

 

Manufactured Housing Fees Trust Fundk

0.010

0.011

0.011

0.010

 

Rental Housing Assistancel

0.018

0.030

0.030

0.030

 

Federal Housing Administration (FHA) Expensesk

0.130

0.174

0.130

0.130

 

Government National Mortgage Assn. (GNMA) Expensesk

0.024

0.029

0.023

0.024

 

Research and technology

0.072

0.050

0.050

0.050

 

Fair housing activities

0.065

0.071

0.065

0.065

 

Office, lead hazard control

0.110

0.120

0.075

0.110

 

Information Technology Fund

0.250

0.334

0.097

0.250

 

Inspector General

0.126

0.129

0.126

0.126

 

Gross Appropriations Subtotal

45.373

49.323

46.407

46.225

 

Rescissions

 

 

 

 

 

Drug Elimination Grants

-0.001

0.000

0.000

0.000

 

Rural Housing and Economic Development

0.000

0.000

-0.003

0.000o

 

Other (Sec. 233)

0.000

0.000

-0.007

-0.016o

 

Management and Administration (Sec. 234)

0.000

0.000

-0.002

0.000

 

Youth Build

0.000m

0.000

0.000

0.000

 

Section 108

0.000

0.000

-0.002

0.000

 

Brownfields

-0.003

0.000

0.000

0.000

 

FHA (GI/SRI)

-0.010

0.000

0.000

0.000

 

Rescissions Subtotal

-0.014

0.000

-0.014

-0.016

 

Offsetting Collections and Receipts

 

 

 

 

 

Manufactured Housing Fees Trust Fund

-0.010

-0.011

-0.011

-0.010

 

FHA

-8.863

-7.786n

-7.757

-7.757

 

GNMA

-0.864

-0.886

-0.886

-0.886

 

Offsets Subtotal

-9.737

-8.683

-8.654

-8.653

 

Total Budget Authority

35.621

40.640

37.739

37.556

 

Sources: Table prepared by CRS based on FY2015 Consolidated and Continuing Appropriations Act (P.L. 113-235) and the Explanatory Statement, Congressional Record, vol. 160, part 151—Book II (December 11, 2014), pp. H9981-H9984 (FY2015 enacted levels); the President's FY2016 budget documents, including HUD Congressional Budget Justifications (FY2016-requested levels); H.R. 2577, H.Rept. 114-129 (FY2016-requested level and FY2016-House Committee), updated by CRS to reflect floor amendments, and S.Rept. 114-75.

a. The Section 8 tenant-based rental assistance account includes both current-year and advance appropriations. Typically, Congress appropriates about $4 billion for tenant-based rental assistance for the subsequent fiscal year in addition to funds for the current year.

b. While no funding was provided for the Rental Assistance Demonstration, the law did raise the cap on the number of units that can participate in the demonstration from 60,000 to 185,000 and made several other changes. See Section 234 of HUD General Provisions in P.L. 113-235.

c. The Senate committee-passed bill would move funding for the Indian Community Development Block Grant (ICDBG) from the Community Development Fund to the account that funds Native American Housing Block Grants, and would rename the account Indian Block Grants. The bill provides $650 million for Native American Housing Block Grants and $60 million for ICDBG.

d. The President's budget does not request funding for the Native Hawaiian Housing Block Grant or Native Hawaiian Loan Guarantee accounts, noting that sufficient carryover balances are available to administer each program in FY2016.

e. Includes $100,000 for the Native Hawaiian loan guarantee (rounding to less than $1 million).

f. In addition to the funds appropriated in the bill, the House Committee-passed bill would also transfer any funds provided to the Housing Trust Fund in FY2016 to the HOME program. The Housing Trust Fund is to be funded through contributions from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac rather than through appropriations. The committee report estimates that $133 million could be transferred from the Housing Trust Fund, which would bring total funding for the HOME account to $900 million, the same as the FY2015 enacted level.

g. The $50 million for the SHOP account includes $10 million for the SHOP program and $40 million for capacity-building activities

h. The President's budget proposed providing $10 million for SHOP within the HOME account, rather than in its own account. Capacity-building activities would be funded in the Transformation Initiative account.

i. The Section 8 project-based rental assistance account includes both current-year and advance appropriations. Typically, Congress appropriates about $400 million for project-based rental assistance for the subsequent fiscal year in addition to funds for the current year.

j. In addition to HUD's housing counseling assistance program, Congress in recent years has provided funding specifically for foreclosure mitigation counseling to the National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling Program (NFMCP), administered by the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation (also known as NeighborWorks America). NeighborWorks is not part of HUD, but is usually funded as a related agency in the annual THUD appropriations laws.

k. Some or all of the cost of funding these accounts is offset by the collection of fees or other receipts, shown later in this table.

l. The Rental Housing Assistance account is used to provide supplemental funding to some older HUD rent-assisted properties, and, when funding is provided, it is typically offset by recaptures. Funding is not requested in this account every year.

m. Includes a rescission of $460,000 in prior year unobligated balances from the Youth Build program (rounding to less than $1 million), which was formerly funded in HUD's budget but is now funded in the Department of Labor's budget.

n. Amounts shown here reflect the Congressional Budget Office's re-estimate of the President's budget request; therefore, the figure for the FY2016 budget request differs from what is shown in the President's budget documents.

o. Section 245 of the General Provisions proposes a rescission of $12 million in unobligated balances from the cost of guaranteed loans for Native American Housing Block Grants and all unobligated balances from two accounts that have not been funded in a number of years: Rural Housing and Economic Development and Homeownership and Opportunity for People Everywhere.

HUD in Brief

Senate Action

For HUD, H.R. 2577, as reported by the Senate Appropriations Committee (S.Rept. 114-75), would provide:

House Action

For HUD, the House-passed H.R. 2577 would provide the following:

President's Budget

The President's FY2016 budget request for HUD included the following:

Title III: Related Agencies

Table 8 presents appropriations levels for the various related agencies funded within the Transportation, HUD, and Related Agencies appropriations bill.

Table 8. Appropriations for Related Agencies, FY2015-FY2016

(in millions of dollars)

Related Agencies

FY2015
Enacted

FY2016 Request

FY2016 House
H.R. 2577

FY2016 Senate Committee
H.R. 2577

FY2016 Enacted

Access Board

8

8

8

8

 

Federal Housing Finance Agency IG

0

(50)a

0

0

 

Federal Maritime Commission

26

27

26

26

 

National Transportation Safety Board

104

105

104

105

 

Amtrak Office of Inspector General

24

25

24

24

 

Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation (NeighborWorks)

185

182

177b

140

 

U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness

4

4

4

4

 

Total

350

351

342

306

 

Source: Table prepared by CRS based on FY2015 Consolidated and Continuing Appropriations Act (P.L. 113-235) and the Explanatory Statement, Congressional Record, vol. 160, part 151—Book II (December 11, 2014), pp. H9981-H9984 (FY2015 enacted levels); the President's FY2016 budget documents, (FY2016-requested levels); and H.R. 2577 and H.Rept. 114-129 (FY2016-requested level and FY2016-House) and S.Rept. 114-75 (Senate Committee).

a. The President's budget requests $50 million for the Federal Housing Finance Agency Office of Inspector General, to be fully offset by collections, as a part of a legislative proposal.

b. H.R. 2577 proposes to fund core NeighborWorks activities at the same level as FY2015, but to reduce funding for the National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling Program (NFMCP) by $8 million (the President's budget had requested a $4 million reduction in FY2016). H.Rept. 114-129 notes that foreclosure filings have decreased significantly since the NFMCP was first funded in FY2007.

Author Contact Information

[author name scrubbed], Specialist in Housing Policy ([email address scrubbed], [phone number scrubbed])
[author name scrubbed], Analyst in Transportation Policy ([email address scrubbed], [phone number scrubbed])

Key Policy Staff

Area of Expertise

Name

Phone

Email

Transportation

 

 

 

General DOT funding, passenger rail, NHTSA, FMCSA, surface transportation safety and security

D. Randall Peterman

[phone number scrubbed]

[email address scrubbed]

Aviation safety, aviation security, Federal Aviation Administration, National Transportation Safety Board

[author name scrubbed]

[phone number scrubbed]

[email address scrubbed]

Federal Highway Administration, Highway and Airport and Airway Trust Funds, tolling

[author name scrubbed]

[phone number scrubbed]

[email address scrubbed]

Federal Railroad Administration, freight transportation, Maritime Administration, Surface Transportation Board

[author name scrubbed]

[phone number scrubbed]

[email address scrubbed]

Federal Transit Administration, surface transportation policy, private investment in infrastructure

[author name scrubbed]

[phone number scrubbed]

[email address scrubbed]

Airport Improvement Program, Essential Air Service, airport and airline issues

Rachel Tang

[phone number scrubbed]

[email address scrubbed]

Motor vehicle safety, electric and alternative-fuel vehicles and infrastructure

[author name scrubbed]

[phone number scrubbed]

[email address scrubbed]

Housing and Urban Development

 

 

 

Public Housing, Section 8 rent assistance, (project-based and vouchers), general HUD funding

[author name scrubbed]

[phone number scrubbed]

[email address scrubbed]

Community Development, including CDBG

[author name scrubbed]

[phone number scrubbed]

[email address scrubbed]

FHA, HOME, Housing Counseling, NAHASDA

[author name scrubbed]

[phone number scrubbed]

[email address scrubbed]

Section 202 and Section 811, homelessness assistance, including HOPWA

[author name scrubbed]

[phone number scrubbed]

[email address scrubbed]

Related Agencies

 

 

 

Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation/NeighborWorks, FHFA

[author name scrubbed]

[phone number scrubbed]

[email address scrubbed]

Interagency Council on Homelessness

[author name scrubbed]

[phone number scrubbed]

[email address scrubbed]

U.S. Access Board

[author name scrubbed]

[phone number scrubbed]

[email address scrubbed]

Amtrak IG

D. Randall Peterman

[phone number scrubbed]

[email address scrubbed]

Federal Maritime Commission

[author name scrubbed]

[phone number scrubbed]

[email address scrubbed]

Footnotes

1.

According to Congressional Quarterly's American Congressional Dictionary, discretionary appropriations are appropriations not mandated by existing law and therefore made available annually in appropriation bills in such amounts as Congress chooses. The Budget Enforcement Act of 1990 defines discretionary appropriations as budget authority provided in annual appropriation acts and the outlays derived from that authority, but it excludes appropriations for entitlements.