President’s Fiscal Year 2011 Budget Proposal Released

Today, the Administration released its Fiscal Year 2011 Budget Proposal. According to the proposed budget, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) would receive $48.5 billion in funding for core HUD programs, as well as new initiatives. As part of developing the President’s Budget, HUD, along with all other departments, identified high-priority performance goals. These priority areas include providing assistance to homeowners at-risk of losing their homes due to foreclosure, reducing homelessness among veterans, further meeting the growing need for affordable rental homes, and enabling more cost-effective energy upgrades.

Key FY 2011 Budget Proposals:

• Provides $150 million for Sustainable Communities Grants;
• Requests $250 million for the Choice Neighborhoods Initiative;
• Requests $350 million to fund the first phase of a multi-year initiative to regionalize the Housing Choice Voucher program and convert public housing to project-based vouchers;
• Requests $19.6 billion for the Housing Choice Voucher program;
• Provides $9.4 billion for the Project-Based Rental Assistance program;
• Continues funding for all existing mainstream vouchers and provides flexibility to support new vouchers including $85 million in special purpose vouchers for the homeless and those at-risk of becoming homeless, and persons with disabilities;
• Requests $2.1 billion for HUD’s Homeless Assistance Programs to effectively implement the HEARTH Act. Also supports the key priorities reflected in HEARTH, including $200 million for Emergency Solutions Grant funding.
• Requests $88 million to support homeownership and foreclosure prevention through Housing Counseling and $20 million to combat mortgage fraud;
• Programs that receive increases: the budget has $19.6 billion for tenant-based Section 8 assistance and $9.4 billion for project-based Section 8, up from $18.2 billion and $8.6 billion in fiscal 2010; $2.1 billion for homeless assistance, up from $1.9 billion; and $4.82 billion for the public housing operating fund, up from $4.78 billion. Community development block grant funding would remain flat, at $3.990 million; and
• Programs facing cuts include the public housing capital fund, with $2 billion, down from $2.5 billion; Indian housing block grants, $580 million, down from $700 million; HOME, $1.65 billion, down from $1.8 billion; Section 202, $274 million, down from $825 million; and Section 811, $90 million, down from $300 million.

For more information, please read the HUD Budget Fact Sheet.