Appropriators in the U.S. House of Representatives are slated to receive their topline funding allocations for all 12 fiscal year (FY) 2025 spending bills as soon as this week. 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 various federal programs under their jurisdiction in the upcoming fiscal year.
In anticipation of the 302(b) release, NLIHC, on behalf of our partners in the Campaign for Housing and Community Development Funding (CHCDF), sent a letter to Capitol Hill signed by over 2,300 organizations from around the country. The letter calls on appropriations leaders to provide the highest possible 302(b) allocation for HUD and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) affordable housing, homelessness, and community development programs in the coming fiscal year.
Once 302(b) levels are allocated, the House Appropriations subcommittees, including the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) subcommittee that determines funding for HUD programs, will begin work drafting their FY25 spending proposals. House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole (R-OK) laid out an ambitious timeline for his committee, with the goal of finalizing all 12 bills before Congress breaks for August recess. Still, final FY25 spending bills are unlikely to be finished before elections in November. The 302(b) levels are expected to abide by the restrictions of the “Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023” (FRA), which allows for an only 1% increase in spending in FY25.
While the Senate Appropriations Committee has yet to announce a potential timeline for its work, 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 funding 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.