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In a rare unanimous vote, the U.S. House of Representatives recently passed H.R. 3700, the Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act (HOTMA), which would make various reforms to rental housing assistance programs, including streamlining Housing Choice Voucher program inspections, simplifying the requirements for project-based vouchers, and providing public housing agencies (PHAs) greater flexibility to transfer funding between their operating and capital funds.
HUD recently unveiled President Obama’s proposed HUD Budget for Fiscal Year 2017. HUD’s 2017 Budget includes $48.9 billion in gross discretionary funding and $11.3 billion in new mandatory spending over 10 years, with an emphasis on supporting 4.5 million households through rental assistance; increasing homeless assistance; supporting tribal communities and providing opportunities to Native American youth; and making targeted investments in communities to help revitalize high-poverty neighborhoods and improve housing affordability.
Last summer HUD released a final rule implementing the Fair Housing Act of 1968’s obligation for jurisdictions receiving federal funds for housing and urban development to “affirmatively further fair housing” (AFFH). The rule set in motion a data-driven effort to bolster commitments to fair housing that would require jurisdictions to take actions to undo historic patterns of segregation and other types of discrimination.
On Dec. 18, President Obama signed the FY 2016 omnibus spending bill into law. The bill covered all 12 appropriations bills, including funding for Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD). The Senate adopted the bill by a vote of 65-33; the House did so by a 316-113 tally.
After being threatened with near elimination in the Senate Committee’s THUD bill and with a $133 million cut in the House bill, HOME was funded at $950 million in the omnibus, a $50 million increase from FY 2015.
On Dec. 18, 2015, HUD and the USDA announced that communities may now apply to be designated a Promise Zone under the third and final round of competition. Promise Zones are high-poverty communities where the federal government partners with local leaders to increase economic activity, improve educational opportunities, leverage private investment, reduce violent crime, enhance public health, and address other priorities identified by the community.
The Fair Housing Act prohibits harassment in housing and housing-related transactions because of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, and familial status. Yet for many women, their landlords are a source of fear and harassment, demanding sexual favors in lieu of or along with rent money. This type of harassment is one of the subjects of a new rule proposed by HUD on Oct. 21.
As part of President Obama’s efforts to promote rehabilitation and reintegration for the formerly incarcerated, HUD and the Department of Justice recently announced $1.7 million for public housing authorities to aid eligible public housing residents who are under the age of 24 to expunge or seal their records in accordance with their applicable state laws. The Juvenile Re-entry Assistance Program (JRAP) specifically excludes makers of meth on public housing property, sex offenders, or those convicted of domestic violence.
On Oct. 30, Congress passed the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015. President Obama signed the bill into law a day before the government would have been in default without the agreements. The legislation provides a two-year framework to relieve federal programs from the bulk of sequester spending caps. For Fiscal Year (FY) 2016, the act provides $33 billion more for nondefense discretionary programs than would have been available if the sequester caps had remained in place.
On Oct. 22, the House Financial Services Committee held a hearing entitled, “The Future of Housing in America: 50 Years of HUD and its Impact on Federal Housing Policy,” to review the effectiveness of HUD programs since the Department was established half a century ago.
HUD’s Office of Public and Indian Housing recently issued Notice PIH-2015-17, which provides guidance to public housing agencies (PHAs) on the use and reporting of administrative fee reserves for the Housing Choice Voucher program. The new notice responds to Office of the Inspector General recommendations to implement controls and require reconciliation of administrative fee reserves.
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