On May 3 and 4th, both the House and Senate respectively, passed the FY 2017 omnibus spending bill funding HUD and other governmental agencies for the remainder of the 2017 fiscal year which ends September 30th. President Trump signed the bill on Friday.
The bill includes…
- $10.8 billion for Section 8 project-based rental assistance,
- $20.3 billion for Section 8 tenant-based rental assistance which includes 18.36 billion for vouchers and $1.65 billion for PHA administration fees.,
- $4.4 billion for the public housing operating fund,
- $1.9 billion for the public housing capital fund,
- $950 million for the HOME Investment Partnership program, and
- $137.5 million for the Choice Neighborhoods Initiative.
In addition to setting funding levels, the bill also makes the following policy changes…
- Including a provision eliminating the requirement that HOME PJs commit HOME funds within 24 months or face recapture, effective for program funds that would otherwise expire between 2016 and 2019;
- Increasing the number of public housing units eligible to convert to project-based section 8 under the RAD program from 185,000 to 225,000 and extends RAD authorization to 2020; and
- Specifying that none of the funding made available under the bill may be used to direct a HUD grantee to undertake specific changes to existing zoning laws as part of carrying out the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing final rule.