HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT ADVOCATES TO CONGRESS: BUDGET DEAL HURTS COMMUNITIES, LOW INCOME FAMILIES
WASHINGTON, D.C. – April 14, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — The House and Senate are set to vote today on a budget deal that cuts nearly $40 billion from non-defense discretionary programs.
Members of the Campaign for Housing and Community Development Funding (CHCDF), a coalition of 72 national affordable housing and community development groups, believe those cuts should not come at the expense of low income households who cannot afford housing or from communities that desperately need assistance. In reality, lawmakers have proposed exactly that by cutting HUD’s budget 6.4% below the FY10 funding levels.
These cuts, amounting to $2.8 billion in HUD program funding, will result in low income households losing access to affordable housing. Deferred maintenance will put current subsidized housing residents at risk of living in substandard housing units. Even more units will be lost from HUD’s aging subsidized housing portfolio, which already loses 10,000 units per year due to attrition caused by unfunded maintenance needs. Communities will not be able to create the employment opportunities, economic activity or services desperately needed by low income households.
CHCDF members appreciate the efforts made by some members to limit the damage more severe cuts could have caused. The fact remains that these cuts will harm low income households and lower the bar for housing and community development funding in future fiscal years. CHCDF members understand the long-term necessity of addressing the nation’s budget deficit, but hope lawmakers will work to achieve deficit reduction in a way that does not sacrifice the housing stability and community resources of the lowest income people in our nation.
The House and Senate are expected to vote at 1 pm on H.R. 1473, the Department of Defense and Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011.
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A list of CHCDF members can be found at http://www.nlihc.org/doc/CHCDF_Members_January2011.pdf
Contact:
Melissa Quirk, National Low Income Housing Coalition, 202.662.1530 x230
