Senate Appropriations Committee Approves THUD Appropriations Bill, But Hurdles Remain

Last week the Senate Appropriations Committee unanimously approved its fiscal year (FY) 2018 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) spending bill. The legislation provides HUD with $40.2 billion in net discretionary spending, an increase of $1.4 billion over FY 2017 and nearly $2 billion more than the House’s version of the bill, which was passed in mid-July. Most of the increases in the Senate bill go toward renewing existing Tenant-Based Rental Assistance and Project-Based Rental Assistance voucher contracts. Public housing and housing for the elderly and persons with disabilities also saw funding increases, while the HOME Investments Partnership Program (HOME), Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and Section 4 Capacity Building for Affordable Housing and Community Development Program (Section 4) all received level funding compared to FY 2017. For more information on program funding levels see Enterprise’s Senate THUD Bill blog post and FY 2018 budget chart.