U.S. House Passes 2020 HUD Appropriations Bill

Posted on July 10, 2019 by Jodi Boyne

The U.S. House approved a bill that increases overall HUD funding by 7%, rejecting the White House’s request to cut thr HUD budget by 18% for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1. For HUD’s Section 202 Housing for the Elderly account, the bill increases funding by almost 19% compared to fiscal year 2019.

The bill includes a total of $804 million for HUD’s Section 202 Housing for the Elderly program, full funding for Section 8 Project-Based Rental Assistance contract renewals and increases for other HUD programs.

Within the Section 202 account, the bill fully renews rental assistance and Service Coordinator contracts, and provides $5 million for new Service Coordinators, $10 million for HUD’s forthcoming home modification program, and $141 million for new Section 202 homes.

While this is the largest amount for new Section 202 homes in any HUD funding bill since fiscal year 2010, it is far from LeadingAge’s ask of $600 million for new Section 202 homes.

In addition to the funding the bill also blocks HUD from implementing its proposed “mixed-status” rule. LeadingAge opposes this proposed rule, which would prohibit mixed-status households from receiving any housing assistance and require new documentation from 62+ households to prove their citizenship or eligible immigration status, placing older adult households at risk.

The Senate is expected to begin work on its fiscal year 2020 HUD funding bill in early July.