Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD): FY2015 Budget Request Overview and Resources

Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD): FY2015 Budget Request Overview and Resources

Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD): FY2015 Budget Request Overview and Resources

March 20, 2014 (R43427)

Contents

Introduction

HUD

President's FY2015 Budget

Totals

Rental Assistance and Homeless Assistance

Block Grants

Mandatory Funding for FHA

Legislative Proposals

Figures

Figure 1. Total HUD Funding, With and Without Savings from Offsets, FY2014 Enacted and FY2015 Request

Introduction

This report provides a brief overview of the FY2015 budget request for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), with links to relevant Administration budget documents and CRS reports. A list of CRS analysts with expertise on various aspects of the HUD budget is also provided (see "Key Policy Staff"). Note that this report will not be updated to track legislative action. For information on HUD appropriations, including FY2014 appropriations, see the Transportation, HUD, and Related Agencies page on the CRS website.

HUD

Most of the funding for HUD's programs and activities comes from discretionary appropriations provided each year in the annual appropriations acts enacted by Congress. HUD's annual appropriations are generally provided along with the Department of Transportation (DOT) and several related agencies (including the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation, also known as NeighborWorks America) by the Transportation, HUD, and Related Agencies subcommittees in the House and the Senate.

For more information about HUD's programs and activities, see CRS Report RL34591, Overview of Federal Housing Assistance Programs and Policy, by [author name scrubbed] et al.

For more information about recent trends in HUD funding, see CRS Report R42542, Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD): Funding Trends Since FY2002, by [author name scrubbed].

President's FY2015 Budget

Totals

On March 4, 2014, the Obama Administration submitted its FY2015 budget request. It included $46.7 billion in gross discretionary appropriations for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, not accounting for savings from offsets and other sources. The President's gross funding request is about $1 billion more than the amount provided in FY2014.

For more information about HUD's budget request, see Presentation—Overview of FY2015 President's Budget.

For additional detail about funding levels for specific programs and activities, see HUD's FY2015 Congressional Budget Justifications.

While the amount of gross appropriations requested by the President for FY2015 is higher than the amount provided in FY2014, the amount of net budget authority requested is slightly less than the amount provided FY2014. This is largely attributable to savings available from the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgage insurance fund. FHA offsets are estimated by HUD to increase by about $1.3 billion compared to FY2014.

For more information about the President's request for FHA, see HUD's Congressional Budget Justifications, Mortgage and Loan Insurance Program (FHA Fund). (NOTE: Estimates of FHA receipts for FY2015 may change when the President's budget is re-estimated by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).)

As shown in Figure 1, when accounting for the savings from offsets and other sources, the President's budget includes $32.6 billion in net discretionary funding for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, a decrease of less than $200 million compared to the net budget authority provided in FY2014.

Figure 1. Total HUD Funding, With and Without Savings from Offsets, FY2014 Enacted and FY2015 Request

Source: Chart prepared by CRS based on information in the President's FY2015 budget documents and
explanatory materials accompanying the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2014 (P.L. 113-76).

Rental Assistance and Homeless Assistance

Some of the largest increases in funding, relative to FY2014, would go to the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program (an increase of nearly $900 million), the Homeless Assistance Grants (an increase of $300 million), and the Public Housing Operating Fund (an increase of $200 million). The Section 8 Project-Based Rental Assistance program, however, would see a decrease in funding of nearly $200 million.

For more information about the President's request for Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers, see HUD Congressional Budget Justifications, Tenant-Based Rental Assistance.

For more information about the President's request for Homeless Assistance Grants, see HUD Congressional Budget Justifications, Homeless Assistance Grants.

For more information about the President's request for the Public Housing Operating Fund, see HUD Congressional Budget Justifications, Public Housing Operating Fund.

For more information about the President's request for Section 8 Project-Based Rental Assistance, see HUD Congressional Budget Justifications, Project-Based Rental Assistance.

Block Grants

Other programs that would receive lower funding under the President's FY2015 request compared to FY2014 enacted levels include two formula block grant programs: the Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) program (a decrease of $230 million), and the HOME Investment Partnerships Program (a decrease of $50 million).

For more information about the President's request for CDBG, see HUD Congressional Budget Justifications, Community Development Fund. (Note that CDBG is funded within the Community Development Fund.)

For more information about the President's request for HOME, see HUD Congressional Budget Justifications, HOME Investment Partnerships Program.

Mandatory Funding for FHA

The President's FY2014 budget request had included an estimate that FHA would require a mandatory appropriation during FY2013 to ensure that it had enough funds to cover all of the expected future costs of its insured mortgages. At the end of FY2013, FHA took a mandatory appropriation of $1.7 billion. This funding was provided using existing authority and did not require further congressional action. According to estimates in the President's FY2015 request, FHA will begin rebuilding its capital reserves in FY2014 and will not require a mandatory appropriation during the fiscal year.

For more information on FHA and the President's request, see Presentation—Overview of FY2015 President's Budget, p. 9.

Legislative Proposals

The budget request contains a number of legislative proposals that would make changes to several HUD programs and activities, including rental assistance programs (Section 8 and public housing), assisted housing preservation activities, the HOME program, housing counseling assistance, and FHA.

For example, some of the proposals include making changes to the compensation structure for public housing authority personnel; expanding property eligibility for the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) program; authorizing demonstrations to determine the effectiveness of different rent structures under HUD rental assistance programs; providing flexibility to public housing authorities to use operating and capital funds interchangeably; and authorizing FHA to charge lenders a fee for administrative support.

For more information about legislative proposals included in the President's budget, see HUD Congressional Budget Justifications, Explanation of General Provisions.

Key Policy Staff

Area of Expertise

Name

Phone

E-mail

Public and Assisted Housing, including Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher and public housing; project-based Section 8 rental assistance

[author name scrubbed]

[phone number scrubbed]

[email address scrubbed]

Community development, including CDBG and capacity building

[author name scrubbed]

[phone number scrubbed]

[email address scrubbed]

Section 202 housing for persons who are elderly, Section 811 housing for persons with disabilities, homeless assistance, HOPWA, and Fair Housing

[author name scrubbed]

[phone number scrubbed]

[email address scrubbed]

FHA, HOME, housing counseling, Native American housing programs

[author name scrubbed]

[phone number scrubbed]

[email address scrubbed]