Historic Housing Budget Cuts Announced by Trump Administration

A proposal of $6.2 billion in cuts to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) budget was officially released at 12:01 am today by The White House. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) document is unsurprisingly named America First: Budget Blueprint to Make America Great Again.

First page of the OMB document

In the White House document announcing the cutbacks, it was stated that HUD's overall budget will be reduced by 13.2 percent - from $46.9 billion in 2017, to $40.7 billion in 2018. According to the document, the budget reduction "recognizes a greater role for State and local governments and the private sector in addressing the community and economic development needs." These drastic cuts are in line with what was leaked from HUD last week, although this blueprint has less detail than the leaked documents. The most significant cut is the elimination of the Community Development Block Grant program, which reduces the budget by $3 billion. OMB recognized the program has spent more than $150 billion since 1974 in providing low-income assistance programs in impoverished areas, but the document states that "the program is not well targeted to the poorest populations and has not demonstrated results." It is then suggested that state and local community and economic development departments should provide these services. It is unclear if Trump, Carson or anyone else from the Administration has actually visited any town or city in America and walked upon the sidewalks the CDBG program built, past the new downtown facades it repaired or over the emergency flood prevention programs it made possible. It would only take a few minutes in any town in America to see the "demonstrated results" of the program.

President Donald Trump

A budget reduction of $1.1 billion will be made by eliminating "a number of lower priority programs, including the HOME Investment Partnerships Program, Choice Neighborhoods, and the Self-help Homeownership Opportunity Program." Again, HUD recommends state and local departments take on these duties. The elimination of the HOME program, funded in 2017 at $950 million, is a direct assault on the nation's affordable housing as the program funds the development of thousands of affordable housing each year. Funding for the Section 4 Capacity Building for Community Development and Affordable Housing program will also be eliminated, saving $35 million. HUD's reason for eliminated this program is that it duplicates the "efforts funded by philanthropy and other more flexible private sector investments." There is one announced budget increase of $20 million, aimed to remove lead-based paint and other hazards in affordable housing units. According to the White House document, "this also funds enforcement, education, and research activities to further support this goal, all of which contributes to lower healthcare costs and increased productivity." These are the only specific programs mentioned in the document to be affected by the 2018 budget.

Secretary of HUD Ben Carson

Interestingly (some would say suspiciously), the budget blueprint states the budget will be cut by $6.2 billion while only specifically identifying $4.15 billion in cuts leaving another $2.05 billion in cuts to be applied to other HUD programs. The budget blueprint implies that funding for rental assistance programs will go largely untouched at "more than $35 billion". These programs, currently funded at about $35.205 million, include tenant-based rental assistance (known as Section 8 vouchers), project-based Section 8, Public Housing Operating funds and Homeless Assistance Grants. It is unclear where the remaining $2.05 billion in cuts will come from if not from rental assistance and RA remains a prime target in the future. In fact, if the HUD leak to The Washington Post last week was accurate (and it matches very closely what was released today), cuts will also be made to the Public Housing Operating Fund ($600 million), Public Housing Capital Fund ($1.3 billion), Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers ($300 million), Section 202 Housing for the Elderly ($42 million), Section 811 Housing for Persons with Disabilities ($29 million), and Native American housing block grants ($150 million). And, the $75 million cut to NYCHA's 2017 operating budget by HUD is not a part of this blueprint, so public housing authorities could be in for even more creative budget cuts from Trump and Carson before this all done. While there is still more information needed on the specifics of these cuts, the preliminary facts that have been given present a grim future not only for affordable housing providers, but for low-income tenants as well. This budget blueprint is a disaster for low-income Americans and takes a leap in the wrong direction for our communities. We are actively working to get more information on how exactly these cuts will affect low-income renters and the industry as a whole.