The 2013 budget proposal for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) calls for $44.8 billion in spending, a three percent over- all increase from 2012.
The bulk of the funding for the coming fiscal year would go toward rental assistance for 4.7
million low-income families. The budget would continue to support current housing recovery programs and use an additional $1.6 billion for new initiatives, including support for 10,000 new vouchers for homeless veterans and funds for 5,300 more supportive housing units for the elderlyand disabled.
“This is a make-or-break moment for the middle class,” said Housing Secretary Shaun Donovan of
the country’s position moving into a new fiscal year in the proposal’s introduction.
The spending plan outlines a $2.3 billion investment to continue a joint initiative with several federal agencies to end chronic homelessness and homelessness among veterans and their families.
HUD proposes that about 84 percent of these funds go through the Continuum of Care, a set of three
competitively-awarded programs created to address the problems of homelessness with a comprehensive approach.
Funding for the Continuum of Care assistance programs has been steadily increasing since its establishment, according to HUD spokesperson Brian Sullivan. Sullivan says the attention comes from “a bi-partisan recognition that these funds are not only critically important, but are also working to reduce and end homelessness.”
Despite spiked figures, the proposal meets requirements for a tighter budget, as HUD expects to see savings as a result of increasing repayments from loans made by the Federal Housing Administration.
Some of the budget cuts and money-saving reforms do raise worries for low-income families. Housing advocates expressed concerns about an increase in minimum rent from roughly $40 a month to $75 a month and a cut in funds for Project-Based Rental Assistance.
The department says the reforms would not reduce the number of families served. But Denise Muha,
Executive Director of the National Leased Housing Association, called the cut in Project-Based
Rental Assistance a “gimmick” that would negatively impact the program.
“It merely shifts $1.1 billion of the costs to FY14 and creates huge uncertainties with owners,
lenders and investors,” said Muha.
