While Congress is in recess until November 12, conversations about passing a disaster aid package before the end of the year are picking up among congressional leaders. The aid package, which U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has estimated could include as much $100 billion, would be targeted to survivors and communities impacted by Hurricanes Helene and Milton.
However, while aid for disaster recovery is needed, Congress will not readjourn to begin negotiating a potential aid package until November 12, at which point members will have only eight legislative days when both chambers are in session before they adjourn again for the Thanksgiving holiday and reconvene on December 3. This schedule leaves only a few short weeks for members of Congress to negotiate and pass a disaster aid package and finish their work on a fiscal year (FY) 2025 spending bill. The federal government is currently being funded by a continuing resolution (CR) that maintains funding for federal programs until December 20. Allowing the CR to expire without final bills or another CR to continue funding would result in a partial shutdown of the federal government.
Lawmakers have a steep road ahead when it comes to reaching a final agreement on FY25 spending. The House’s proposed FY25 budget for HUD would cut funding to the department by 3%, while the Senate’s proposal would provide a 10% increase to HUD programs. Moreover, while the Senate’s bill provides sufficient funding to renew all existing housing voucher contracts, the House’s bill would come up short, failing to meet the full funding required to ensure vouchers remain available to households in need.
Take Action!
Advocates should continue pressuring their members of Congress to enact a final FY25 spending bill that provides increased funding for HUD’s vital affordable housing and homelessness programs. Inadequate funding, long-term CRs, and government shutdowns have serious consequences for HUD programs: because the cost of housing and homelessness programs rise every year, it is vital these programs receive increased funding every year just to maintain current levels of assistance.
Advocates can use NLIHC’s resources to take action today and push Congress to pass increased funding for affordable housing and homelessness in FY25, including for NLIHC’s top priorities:
- Full funding to renew all existing contracts for the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program and expand assistance to 20,000 more households.
- $6.2 billion for public housing operations and $5.2 billion for public housing capital needs.
- $4.7 billion for HUD's Homeless Assistance Grants (HAG) program.
- $100 million for the Eviction Protection Grant Program.
- At least $1.3 billion for Tribal housing programs, plus $150 million for competitive funds targeted to tribes with the greatest needs.
Use NLIHC’s toolkits and resources to take action on FY25 funding, including by:
- Emailing or calling members’ offices to tell them about the importance of affordable housing, homelessness, and community development resources to you, your family, your community, or your work. You can use NLIHC’s Take Action page to look up your member offices or call/send an email directly!
- Sharing stories of those directly impacted by homelessness and housing instability. Storytelling adds emotional weight to your message and can help lawmakers see how their policy decisions impact actual people. Learn about how to tell compelling stories with this resource.
- Using our “Oppose Dramatic Cuts to Federal Investments in Affordable Housing” toolkit: This toolkit includes resources, talking points, advocacy ideas, and other helpful information on defending funding for affordable housing and homelessness resources in the FY25 federal budget. Meet with your members and urge them to provide the most possible funding for these vital programs in any final FY25 budget agreement!
National, state, local, tribal, and territorial organizations can also join over 2,300 organizations on CHCDF’s national letter calling on Congress to support the highest level of funding possible for affordable housing, homelessness, and community development resources in FY25.