Federal Budget Process
The President released his budget proposal: “America First: A Budget Blueprint to Make America Great Again” on March 16. The budget increases defense spending by $54 billion while cutting non-defense discretionary spending by an equal amount. The proposed budget impacts much of the country, as almost every federal agency sees cuts – some more devastating than others.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in particular would see $6.2 billion dollars in cuts, which amount to 13.2% of the agency’s budget. In FY2015 North Carolina received $868.2 million through the various HUD programs that supported more than 11,000 jobs in the state. The administrations budget proposal would:
- Eliminate the Community Development Block Grant program ($70.2 million for NC in FY15);
- Eliminate the HOME Investment Partnerships program ($24.3 million for NC in FY15);
- Eliminate Choice Neighborhoods;
- Eliminate the Self-Help Homeownership Opportunity Program;
- Eliminate Section 4 Capacity Building for Community Development and Affordable Housing grants; and
- Increase lead mitigation funding by $20 million;
These cuts to HUD would mean a loss of more than $100 million in funding for affordable housing in North Carolina.
The budget also:
- Eliminates the CDFI Fund;
- Eliminates Corporation for National and Community Service that provides AmeriCorps members for many affordable housing organizations; and
- Eliminates the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness.
State Budget Process
The Governor presented his budget proposal on March 1, 2017 in Durham. The Governor’s appropriation to the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency for FY2017-18 includes:
- $10 million for the North Carolina Housing Trust Fund;
- $20 million for the Workforce Housing Loan Program; and
- $3 million for the Federal HOME match.
In the General Assembly, the budget process begins in the Senate this year. The North Carolina Housing Trust Fund and the Workforce Housing Loan Program both run through the Senate Committee for Appropriations on General Government and Information Technology and the House Committee for Appropriations on General Government.
Bill Tracking
Below are the bills that have been filed that the North Carolina Housing Coalition is tracking.
