| House Appropriations Subcommittees Pass FY13 Spending Bills for USDA and HUD |
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CARH’S BROADCAST E-MAIL – Legislative Alert June 16, 2012 As reported in CARH’s Broadcast E-mail of February 15, the Obama Administration’s proposed Fiscal Year (FY) 2013 budget was transmitted to Congress on February 13. On May 2, CARH’s Broadcast E-mail reported that the Senate Appropriations Committee passed FY 2013 spending bills for USDA and HUD. Last week, the House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee and the House Transportation-HUD Appropriations Subcommittee passed their versions of FY 2013 spending bills. The House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee bill would provide lower funding levels then the Senate’s proposed spending bill (S. 2375) for almost all rural housing programs. Of particular concern to CARH is the proposed funding for the Section 521, Rental Assistance program. The House would provide only $886.6 million, whereas the Administration’s (RA) request and S. 2375 would provide $907.1 million. The House’s number is very troubling in that it would be very unlikely that preservation RA would be allocated in FY 2013. CARH will be working to urge the House to accept the Senate RA number when the two bills go to conference. The House bill would allocate slightly more to Section 515 then the Senate bill, however the $31.3 million proposed is less than half of the appropriated funds for Section 515 in FY 2012. Both Section 502 the Section 538 guaranteed programs are at the same levels in the House and Senate versions; ($24 billion and $150 million respectively) as these programs charge fees that make them revenue neutral. The House bill also contains new language for every provision relating to housing and to some but not all, provisions relating to other Rural Development (RD) programs, which requires USDA to provide detailed spending plans: “Not later than 15 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture shall submit to the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the Senate a detailed spending plan by program, project, and activity for the funds made available under this heading.” The Senate has included similar report language in its version of the funding bill for FY 2013 “The Committee directs the Secretary, to conclusively, determine and articulate an effective long-term strategy to address rural rental housing needs.” Click here for the most current chart of proposed USDA/RD funding. The House Transportation-HUD Appropriations Subcommittee bill increases funding for HOME, Section 202, CDBG and SHOP, with significant increases from FY 2012 levels for HOME, Section 202 and SHOP. Both Choice Neighborhoods and Sustainable Communities are unfunded. Click here for the chart to see the details of proposed HUD funding. The full Appropriations Committee is expected to act on these bills in approximately two weeks. Final passage of most appropriations bills, however, may not occur until after the November elections. CARH members will continue to be updated as the appropriation process continues. If you have any questions, please contact the CARH national office at 703-837-9001 or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . |
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