Yesterday the Senate Appropriations Committee advanced its Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) FY 2026 spending bill, which adds back in funding for the HOME program as well as increases to vouchers and other programs from the House bill.
The summary is here and the full text is here.
The bill increases funding for HUD over the House’s proposed bill and provides many increases over FY 2025 funding levels, with notable line items including:
- $37.4 billion for Tenant-based Rental Assistance, which is an increase from the House’s proposed $35.268 billion for FY 2026 and an increase from the actual FY 2025 funding level of $36.04 billion.
- $17.8 billion for Project-Based Rental Assistance, which is an increase from the House’s proposed $17.127 billion and an increase from the actual FY 2025 funding level of $16.89 billion.
- Restores HOME funding to $1.25 billion, after the House bill proposed zeroing out the program. During the markup Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Susan Collins (R-ME) noted that “these funds often work in tandem with the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit to increase the supply of affordable housing, especially in rural areas,” and THUD Subcommittee Chairwoman Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS) noted, “this bill also maintains funding for the HOME program, which is a critical source of funding for increasing the supply of affordable housing.”
- See ACTION letter to restore HOME program funding.
- Funds Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) at $3.1 billion, down from the previously enacted level of $3.3 billion, which is what the House had also proposed for FY 2026. However the bill provides an additional more than $400 million for Economic Development Initiatives that will support housing projects.
- Provides $8.4 billion for public housing – an increase over the House’s proposed level of $7.334, but still a slight decrease from the prior level of close to $9 billion.
- The bill also includes several provisions directing HUD to undertake certain studies and initiatives:
- The committee report directs HUD to work across its program offices, the White House Council on Environmental Quality, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, and other stakeholders to improve processes for environmental reviews with the goal of lowering the cost of reviews, streamlining review procedures, reducing duplication, and accelerating new housing construction. As part of this effort, the Department is encouraged to consider options for streamlining environmental reviews for office-to-residential conversions.
- The committee report directs HUD to implement Build America, Buy America (BABA) requirements to ensure Federal housing funds are supporting American industry and jobs, that waiver requests can be appropriately evaluated and processed in a timely and transparent manner, to brief the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations on its plans to do so within 90 days of enactment of the legislation, and to report on processing times for BABA waiver requests within 180 days of enactment of the legislation.
- An amendment offered by Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) would require the HUD Secretary to complete a report on the current state of the property insurance market with an emphasis on affordable housing properties, including Housing Credit properties.
The House and Senate will still have to further negotiate this and other spending bills, and with August recess and the September 30 government funding deadline fast approaching, there is high likelihood of at least an interim continuing resolution while these negotiations continue.
Both the House and Senate THUD bills demonstrate support among congressional appropriators for robust HUD funding.
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