Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD): FY2017 Appropriations

Summary

Most of the funding for the activities of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) comes from discretionary appropriations provided each year in the annual appropriations acts, typically as a part of the Transportation, HUD, and Related Agencies appropriations bill (THUD). HUD’s programs are primarily designed to address housing problems faced by households with very low incomes or other special housing needs.

On May 12, 2016, the full Senate began its consideration of FY2017 appropriations for HUD as a part of a substitute amendment to H.R. 2577 that incorporates both the committee-passed version of the THUD bill (S. 2844) and the committee-reported version of the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies bill. It would provide $48.4 billion in gross discretionary appropriations for HUD’s programs and activities, which is a 3% increase from the FY2016 level. After accounting for savings from offsets and rescissions, the bill includes $39.2 billion in net discretionary budget authority, which is a 2% increase from the FY2016 level. The bill’s largest funding increases would be provided to the tenant-based rental assistance (TBRA) account and project-based rental assistance (PBRA) accounts, largely to maintain current services for the roughly 3 million low-income families who receive housing assistance through the Housing Choice Voucher program and the project-based Section 8 program.

On May 18, 2016, the Transportation, HUD and Related Agencies subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee marked-up its version of a FY2017 THUD appropriations bill. The subcommittee’s draft bill includes $38.7 billion in net discretionary budget authority for HUD.

Congressional action followed the release of the Obama Administration’s FY2017 budget request to Congress on February 9, 2016. The request included $48.9 billion in gross discretionary appropriations for HUD (4% increase from FY2016) and $39.6 billion in net discretionary budget authority (3.5% increase from FY2016). Like S. 2844, the largest funding increases proposed were for the PBRA and TBRA accounts, the largest accounts in HUD’s budget.