Congress Prepares to Negotiate Budget Deal as Government Funding Deadlines Looms

House and Senate leadership are working to negotiate a budget deal that would raise the non-defense discretionary (NDD) spending cap, which would increase funding available for housing and community development programs. The NDD cap for fiscal year (FY) 2018 is set at $516 billion, nearly $3 billion below the cap for FY 2017. Congress needs to raise the NDD cap to adequately fund vital housing and community development programs like HOME Investments Partnerships, Project-Based Rental Assistance and the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund. A short-term continuing resolution (CR) is expected to pass before December 8, when the current CR expires, so that Congress has more time to negotiate a budget deal. An additional short-term CR may also be necessary to give appropriators time to rewrite their FY 2018 bills to the new caps.