Action Alert: Contact Congress About 2021 HUD Funding!
The 2021 budget process may soon be underway. Next week, the Senate Appropriations Committee may begin its work on the FY 2021 Transportation-HUD (THUD) spending bill. The House has outlined an ambitious appropriations schedule for July, with the goal of completing all 12 bills by August. Your voice is critical to ensuring that Congress prioritizes HUD funding!
We’ve made it easy for you to contact your members of Congress – just visit NAHRO’s Action Center and use the new letter. We’ve set an ambitious goal of sending 2,000 letters to Congress by July 1 – tell your lawmakers today that housing and community development programs should be prioritized in FY 2021!
Though there are reports of disagreements between Senate Republicans and Democrats on FY 2021, the Senate Appropriations Committee had been aiming to to begin its appropriations work for FY 2021 in the third week of June. The full committee had been tentatively scheduled to meet on Thursday, June 25 to consider the spending allocations for all 12 appropriations bills and four individual spending bills, including THUD. It’s unclear if the mark-up will happen on June 25 given the recent disagreements.
Maintaining current spending could be a challenge; the spending deal reached last summer limits federal spending in FY 2021 to just over last year’s limit, making it difficult for appropriators to meet the annual cost increases to all programs across the federal government. Housing and community development programs are competing for funding in an extremely limited budget.
Regardless of the outcome of the Senate conflict, it’s critical that NAHRO members act now to remind their legislators of the importance of timely, consistent appropriations for housing and community development programs. Visit NAHRO’s Action Center to send letters to your members of Congress.
Additionally, negotiations continue to stall in Congress over the next COVID-19 emergency legislation. Even if you’ve already contacted your members of Congress and the White House about additional emergency legislation, consider sending letters again to put the pressure on lawmakers to take action.