AHF Welcomes Biden’s Proposed 15% HUD Budget Increase
April 10 2021 - 11:14AM
Business Wire
COVID’s devastating impact on housing and
homeless services programs nationwide has stretched state and local
budgets and responses from coast to coast
Biden’s $68.7 billion FY ’22 budget proposal
allows for housing subsidies to 200,000 additional families and
will add $500 million—a roughly 17 percent increase—to the Homeless
Assistance Grants program
Housing justice advocates from AHF and its housing advocacy arm,
Housing Is A Human Right (HHR), today are cheering President Joe
Biden’s proposed 2022 budget for his Housing and Urban Development
(HUD) Department, which includes an overall 15% increase above
current levels, and includes significant increases for two
programs—the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and HOME
(HOME Investment Partnerships Program)—which the Trump
administration repeatedly tried to eliminate.
“President Biden’s budget proposal for HUD is great news and
could not have come a moment too soon,” said Michael
Weinstein, president of AHF. “Even before the pandemic, many
millions of Americans were struggling with housing affordability
while homelessness was continuing to spiral out of control. We
thank the Biden administration for its leadership here and
encourage them to do everything in their power to shepherd the
budget to the finish line with these numbers and increases
intact.”
According to a story published yesterday in Politico, “The White
House is proposing $68.7 billion to fund the Department of Housing
and Urban Development in fiscal year 2022, a 15 percent increase
over current levels, in the budget request released Friday.”
Biden’s budget proposal will allow for housing subsidies to
200,000 additional families and will add $500 million—a roughly 17
percent increase—to the Homeless Assistance Grants program at a
time when more families face the prospect of losing their homes due
to the pandemic. Politico also noted that, “HUD on Thursday
unveiled $4.9 billion in new emergency grants for state and local
homelessness-prevention efforts as part of the $1.9 trillion rescue
plan enacted last month.”
“We applaud the Biden administration for increased budget
allocations for much needed housing assistance for low income and
unhoused communities and support of the Community Development Block
Grant and HOME programs. These crucial housing programs are popular
with both legislators and the public—and are also programs which
President Trump repeatedly tried to cut year after year,” said
Susie Shannon, policy director for Housing Is A Human Right,
AHF’s housing advocacy arm. “The times require real action and
President Biden’s HUD budget delivers it.”
Politico also reported the Biden budget blueprint would boost
“…funding by nearly 10 percent, to $3.8 billion, for the Community
Development Block Grant program. And it would give the HOME
Investment Partnerships Program an additional $500 million,
bringing its total funding to $1.9 billion, the highest funding
level for the program since 2009.”
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210410005040/en/
MEDIA CONTACT: Ged Kenslea, Senior Director,
Communications for AHF, +1.323.791.5526, gedk@aidshealth.org