U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations Chair Tom Cole (R-OK) released topline funding allocations for all 12 fiscal year (FY) 2025 spending bills on May 16. The topline funding allocation – known as a “302(b) allocation” or simply “302(b)” – determines how much funding each committee will have to allocate for the various federal programs under its jurisdiction in the upcoming fiscal year.
Overall, House Republicans are proposing an increase of $9 billion for defense spending and a decrease of at least $67 billion for domestic spending programs. According to the release, the FY25 Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development (THUD) bill, which funds HUD’s vital affordable housing and homelessness programs as well as federal transportation programs, will total approximately $90.8 billion. However, it is not apparent how this funding will be divided between HUD and U.S. Department of Transportation programs or how funding will be allocated for individual HUD programs.
With the 302(b) levels allocated, the House Appropriations subcommittees will get to work drafting their FY25 spending proposals. Chair Cole has released an ambitious timeline for the Appropriations Committee to finish drafting, reviewing, and voting on its FY25 spending bills. The THUD subcommittee will review the FY25 THUD bill on June 27, with a full committee review scheduled for July 10. Even if the committee meets these deadlines, it is unlikely that a final FY25 spending bill will be passed before the November elections.
Chair Cole has also expressed his commitment to drafting FY25 spending bills according to the limits imposed by the “Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023” (FRA), which allows for spending increases of only 1% in FY25. The Senate Appropriations Committee has yet to announce a potential timeline for its work, but both Chair Patty Murray (D-WA) and Vice Chair Susan Collins (R-ME) are considering a side deal that would boost both defense and domestic spending above the caps instated by the FRA. In the previous fiscal year, Chair Murray and Vice Chair Collins led the charge for a side funding deal that provided almost $70 billion in extra funds for vital federal programs. To maintain the number of households served and services offered, HUD’s budget needs to increase year-to-year; it is extremely likely that additional funding above what would be provided under the FRA will be required to meet the increased cost of HUD’s programs in 2025.
Take Action: Tell Congress to Provide Significant Funding Increases for HUD in FY25
Your advocacy makes a difference! It is thanks to the hard work of advocates that in FY24 – at a time when programs faced cuts of up 25% – HUD received increased funding in the final spending bill.
Congress needs to keep hearing from you about the importance of affordable housing and homelessness programs! NLIHC is calling on Congress to provide the highest possible funding for HUD’s affordable housing and homelessness programs in FY25, including significant funding 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 Prevention Grant Program.
- At least $1.3 billion for Tribal housing programs, plus $150 million for competitive funds targeted to tribes with the greatest needs.
Advocates can continue to engage their members of Congress 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!
- Using social media to amplify messages about the country’s affordable housing and homelessness crisis and the continued need for long-term solutions.
- 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.
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.