Congress had a productive week of appropriations work, with both the House and Senate Appropriations Committees passing FY11 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (T-HUD) spending bills. The Senate Appropriations Committee also marked up its Department of Agriculture bill, which includes funding for rural housing programs (see article below on rural bills).

The House Appropriations Committee’s T-HUD mark up took place on July 20, following passage of the bill through the Subcommittee earlier in July (see Memo, 7/2). At the full committee mark up, T-HUD Subcommittee Chairman John Olver (D-MA) addressed committee members, saying that the subcommittee bill as passed would ensure that affordable housing opportunities are available to families recovering from the economic downturn.

Mainstream vouchers for the Section 811 Supportive Housing for People with Disabilities program were also included in the Senate’s bill, at the $114 million level requested by the Administration and included in the House bill. These funds were formerly included in the Section 811 line item but were moved by the Administration in an attempt to streamline voucher funding requests.

The Senate bill funds the Section 811 program at $200 million, below the House level of $300 million. The Administration requested only $90 million for the capital advance portion of the program, instead of its FY10 level of $186 million. Members of both the House and Senate expressed their intent to continue funding the Section 811 program despite the Administration’s proposed cut. The Senate level of $200 million, along with the $114 million in rental assistance, would boost the program by $14 million above FY10 levels. The House bill would increase the program by $114 million.

The Senate would also fund the Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly program at the FY10 level of $825 million, again disregarding the Administration’s proposed cuts.