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Housing Call: July 1, 2025

NCHC Update

Our Communications Director Haley Solomon is at the National Alliance to End Homelessness Conference in Washington, D.C. this week. We can’t wait to hear how it went next week!

Federal Updates

Advocacy Reminder(s)

Federal budget and policy decisions continue to threaten the future of key housing and community development programs and resources. Earlier this month, HUD published a proposed rule to rescind Affirmative Fair Housing (AFFH) regulations. If finalized, the rule would remove requirements that ensure HUD-assisted properties use an affirmative fair housing marketing plan to advertise their properties. This long standing, historically uncontroversial rule is designed to ensure outreach to all potentially eligible households, especially those least likely to apply for assistance. This is especially important if a development is located in a low-poverty area. This move comes as another blow in a series of efforts by the Trump administration to gut fair housing and racial equity measures. Public comments are due July 3. The Poverty & Race Research Action Council  (PRRAC) is circulating a sign-on letter, which you can both access and sign on at this link by 12 PM EDT on Thursday, July 3.

NC Senator announces he won’t run for office again

Senator Thom Thills announced over the weekend that he would not run for office again in 2026. 

OBBA – One Big Beautiful Act 

Senate Republicans narrowly passed the Reconciliation Bill or the “One Big Beautiful Act” (OBBA) on July 1, 2025 after Vice President JD Vance broke the tie vote. Three Republicans – Thom Tillis, Rand Paul, and Lisa Murkowski – voted with Democrats against the bill. The bill will now be sent back to the House, where voting is expected to start on July 2. Trump has already communicated that he is willing to shift his self-imposed deadline of July 4 in order to get the bill passed. Several of the cuts on programs such as SNAP and Medicaid, as well as the addition of work requirements, are expected to detrimentally impact economic stability for people and families.  

  • To learn more about the Senate vote, click here.
  • To understand the potential impacts to North Carolina, click here.  

Resources for advocacy efforts centered around FY26 Appropriations

The U.S Conference of Mayors passed a resolution in support of extending funding for Emergency Housing Vouchers – a great example of FY26 advocacy efforts. Click here to learn more. 

Use this toolkit for opposing cuts to federal investments in affordable housing.

 

Statewide Updates

The State Fiscal Year ended June 30, 2025 

Resource from SOG – What Happens if NC state budget is not enacted by July 1

The way the law works (specifically G.S. 143c-5-4(b)), if the General Assembly has not enacted a budget by the start of the fiscal year in odd-number years, the law allows for a continuation budget automatically take effect. Allocations made to State departments, agencies, and institutions are made at the level of recurring funds in the prior year’s certified budget. 

  • Key thing to recognize – this applies to RECURRING funds. 
    • The Workforce Housing Loan Program (WHLP) is not a recurring allocation (this is one of the reasons we push for it to be a recurring allocation).
    • It’s important that we mention WHLP is NOT being singled out, however, we need to continue engaging with leadership in both chambers and on the conference committees to highlight the importance of this critical housing finance tool, not only due to its effectiveness as a leveraging tool but because of its critical role in the disaster recovery long term.

Proposed Budget for FY 25-27 in both chambers contain minimal investment in housing 

Budget negotiations have stalled at this point, the cited reason being differences around tax cuts and funding sources, however, in both versions of the proposed budget for FY 25-2027, investment in housing and community development programs is either disappointingly low or absent. Here are some examples.

At present, proposed House and Senate budgets put forward by the North Carolina General Assembly do not include funding for the Healthy Opportunities Pilots program’s ongoing operations or statewide scaling. The 2025 -2027 Biennial State Budget is under active negotiations in the North Carolina General Assembly.

The outcome of these negotiations could change projected Healthy Opportunities Pilots service delivery funding allocation. However, at this time, the absence of available funding means that there is no funding scheduled for distribution to health plans for HOP service delivery beginning July 1, 2025. While new services are expected to stop beginning July 1, our hope is that this will only be a pause, and Healthy Opportunities can resume once additional funds are appropriated by the General Assembly.

One example- given from a partner out west, is since May 2024 in Transylvania Habitat they’ve served over 64 individuals, and have currently 16 active projects serving an additional 37 individuals – this program has helped

Disaster Recovery 

H1012: Disaster Recovery Act of 2025 – Part II  passed after going into conference committee last week and was signed by Gov. Stein on Friday. The bill primarily focuses on infrastructure and does not include any funds for housing.  

Reminder: The Renew NC Single-Family Housing Program began accepting applications last week. Low-to-moderate income Helene survivors living in owner-occupied homes damaged by the storm can apply for assistance with housing rehabilitation or replacement. Priority is given to households with seniors (62+), children, and/or people with disabilities. The program is funded by HUD’s Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery  (CDBG-DR) program and is administered by the North Carolina Department of Commerce. We encourage folks to apply as soon as possible, as funds are limited. 

Local Headlines

 

Events, Reports, and Resources

Upcoming Webinars

  • Opportunity Starts at Home (OSAH) – National Low Income Housing Coalition – Webinar with SchoolHouse Connection “ Solving School-Age Homelessness Through School-Housing Partnerships”, July 8 at 2pm ET. Register here.
  • Just Economy Conversations: (Re)thinking Ownership | National Community Reinvestment Coalition, July 8 from  2-3:30 p.m. Register here.
  • Curds of Wisdom – Saving the Community Reinvestment Act | National Community Reinvestment Coalition, July 9, 1-2 p.m. Register here. 
  • Rent Regulation in Practice: Economic Insights and Regional Perspectives | Bipartisan Policy Center, July 10 at 2 p.m. Register here. 

Reports & Resources

  • The report highlights that half of all renters in 2023—a record 22.6 million—were housing cost-burdened, spending 30% or more of their household incomes on housing and utilities. Renters with annual incomes under $30,000 on average had only $250 left to spend on other necessities after paying for housing.
  • While renter households across all income levels have been affected by rising housing costs, the rate of cost burden among households with incomes between $45,000 and $74,999 doubled to 45% since 2001. Still, cost burdens are most prevalent among renters with the lowest incomes. 
  • The report emphasizes the need for housing supports, which are currently threatened under the Trump Administration’s proposed reductions in federal resources.
  • The State of Equitable Homeownership 2025 Report | National Fair Housing Alliance

Recommended read

Housing Call: June 24, 2025

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