The House Appropriations Subcommittee for Transportation and Housing and Urban Development (THUD) held a remote hearing on April 22 to discuss President Biden’s budget blueprint previewing the fiscal year (FY) 2022 HUD budget. HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge answered questions regarding the president’s budget request as well as addressed CARES Act and American Rescue Plan Act spending.
Secretary Fudge assured the subcommittee that, while CARES Act spending has been seemingly slow, “allocations were made very quickly. The problem [is that] communities were faced with spending FEMA dollars at the same time as CARES [Act dollars] and other resources. So, what communities chose to do was to spend the resources that they had to spend quickly so they started with FEMA.” She went on to explain that communities have engaged in deliberately and carefully plan out funding to address the problems that they are facing related to housing, emphasizing the need for the resources provided in the CARES Act, American Rescue Plan Act, and the incoming infrastructure package.
When asked by Ranking Member Mario Diaz-Balart what currently unauthorized programs would be the secretary’s priority for authorization for the upcoming fiscal year, Secretary Fudge responded that the permanent authorization of the CDBG-DR program would be one of her top priorities (see Memo, 02/01). Secretary Fudge also expressed her commitment while throughout the hearing to use funding allocated to fully enforce the president’s executive orders and memorandum on combatting discrimination against the LGBTQ+ community (see Memo, 02/16) and fair housing (see Memo, 02/01); addressing the needs of rural communities; working with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to address the intersection between housing and transportation issues; and working with members of the THUD subcommittee and members of Congress in a bipartisan fashion to address their specific funding questions/requests.
Watch the full hearing at: https://bit.ly/3dIffec
Read NLIHC’s analysis of the president’s budget blueprint at: https://tinyurl.com/y9rpe7vx
View NLIHC’s updated budget chart at: https://tinyurl.com/cdkvy5b7