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Housing Call: July 12, 2022

Federal updates

  • Congress returns this week from its Independence Day recess. Lawmakers have just a few short weeks before August recess to get anything major accomplished. If a reconciliation package is going to advance this year, it will need to happen during this time frame. Democrats are continuing to negotiate a reconciliation package deal and expect the proposal to be a priority throughout July. Last week, Senator Schumer reportedly submitted text on drug costs to the Senate parliamentarian to begin reviewing proposed bill language. This process ensures the text complies with Senate reconciliation rules. The rest of the package is still in discussion and isn’t ready for review yet. Senators Schumer and Manchin have been meeting regularly about what else might make it into the bill, including tax reform and climate provisions.
  • The House Appropriations Committee approved the draft bill for Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD) budgets. The bill proposes $62.7 billion for HUD’s affordable housing, homelessness, and community development programs, which is a $9 billion (or 17%) increase over FY22-enacted levels. For full details, see NLIHC’s updated budget chart and analysis. At this point, all 12 spending bills for FY23 were successfully voted out of committee, so the House may hold a full floor vote on the omnibus spending package sometime in July.

 

State updates

  • In case you missed it, the NC General Assembly passed a budget for FY23 earlier this month. The budget included increased funding for housing, including $190M for the Workforce Housing Loan Program and a $10M increase to the North Carolina Housing Trust Fund (HTF). This increases the funding from $7.7M to $17.7M, which puts the HTF at its highest level since 2007. More details can be found in the Coalition’s budget analysis. Budget votes were largely bipartisan and the session was adjourned shortly after. Governor Cooper has the budget on his desk now and is still deciding whether he will sign it, veto it, or let it become law.
  • At their meeting last night, the Charlotte City Council voted 9-2 to prevent discrimination based on source of income in complexes that have received city funding. Developers or housing providers who deny renters that use housing choice vouchers as a form of payment could receive a warning or fines. The policy only applies only to landlords and developers who receive city subsidies. Anyone who violates the policy would receive a written warning and participate in mandatory compliance training. A second violation would result in another training and a daily $500 fee until the violation is fixed. Charlotte is the first city in North Carolina to pass such protections: Charlotte leaders pushing to help Section 8 renters find homes | WCNC
  • Wake County is seeking more landlords to join its Lease 2 Home program. The program creates affordable rental opportunities for people who don’t have a permanent place to live by offering incentives to landlords. Since the program started a few months ago, the county has been able to offer 150 housing options and 78 landlords have signed on to participate: Wake County needs more landlords for affordable leasing program | CBS 17

Reports, events, resources

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Housing Call: June 28, 2022

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