Advocacy groups are speaking out against proposed congressional funding cuts to affordable and fair housing programs, saying the cost-cutting measures would hamstring efforts to increase affordable housing and would leave vulnerable populations unprotected from housing discrimination.
On July 17, the House Appropriations Committee approved the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Act for fiscal year 2026 by a party-line vote of 35 to 28. According to a press release from the GOP-led committee, the draft spending bill, which represents a 4.7% decrease from fiscal year 2025’s spending levels, “prioritizes air traffic control infrastructure, controller hiring and transportation safety while maintaining essential housing assistance for our nation’s most vulnerable.”
Rep. Steve Womack, R-Ark., who chairs the House subcommittee focused on transportation, housing and urban development appropriations, said in a statement that the package “presents a critical opportunity to right-size funding levels in order to support the programs that benefit Americans most and use taxpayer dollars as efficiently as possible.”
The National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA) disagrees, pointing out that the budget allocation would slash funding for the Fair Housing Initiative Program (FHIP), a program run by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
Created in 1987 during the tail end of the Reagan administration, FHIP is a competitive grant program designed to provide localized assistance to people who believe they have been victims of housing discrimination.
“The House Appropriations Committee’s actions leave disabled veterans, seniors, survivors of domestic violence, people with disabilities, people of color and others seeking housing free of discrimination without protection during the nation’s escalating fair and affordable housing crisis,” NFHA Executive Vice President Nikitra Bailey said in a press release.
The NFHA release added that several proposed amendments that would have restored fair housing funding received bipartisan support during the markup phase of the legislative process, but they ultimately failed to pass.
HOME on the chopping block
David M. Dworkin, president and CEO of the National Housing Conference (NHC), recently called H.R. 1, the Republican-led tax-and-spending bill signed into law by President Donald Trump on July 4, “the most consequential and positive housing legislation in decades.”
He particularly praised the expansion of the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, the permanent preservation of the mortgage interest deduction, and the expansion of a permanent Opportunity Zones tax incentive.
But Dworkin has grave concerns about the House Appropriation Committee’s proposal to eliminate funding for the HOME Investments Partnerships Program, a HUD initiative that provides states and eligible localities funding for affordable housing activities benefiting low-income households.
In a brief published Sunday, Dworkin said it would be a “fundamental misstep” to cut HOME funding, maintaining that it is the “only federal grant program that gives local leaders the resources and flexibility they need to tackle their communities’ unique housing crises.”
“HOME enables states and cities to increase the supply of affordable homes through tailored approaches: building and rehabilitating affordable rental housing, driving homeownership with downpayment help, and providing tenant-based rental assistance where it’s needed most,” Dworkin wrote.
A House Appropriation Committee report claimed that HOME funding is unnecessary because sufficient unexpended funds still exist in a separate program known as the HOME Investment Partnerships American Rescue Plan Program (HOME-ARP). That temporary program, created in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic, aims to reduce homelessness by providing housing assistance and other supportive services.
For Dworkin, “that reasoning doesn’t hold up,” as “HOME-ARP and HOME are not interchangeable.” He believes HOME is the “only ongoing, flexible housing block grant that addresses both rental and ownership challenges.”
“Its eligible uses stretch well beyond what HOME-ARP allows,” Dworkin stated.
