President’s FY 2014 Budget Reflects Deficit Pressure and Tough Times for Housing

The President’s FY 2014 budget, delivered April 10, follows the recurring theme in Washington of deficit reduction. It does so in ways that attempt to balance immediate job creation with the long-term need for investment in people, infrastructure, and industry, while also reducing the deficit. In housing, the budget shows the how the overall pressure to reduce spending filters down to the program level, with cuts or flat funding for some core housing programs alongside a few increases and new proposals in key areas. These cuts come on top of prior year reductions and the across-the-board sequestration cuts, leaving housing programs and the people they serve more vulnerable. Read our summary document here.

The budget arrives, however, after the Senate and the House of Representatives have each set their budgets for 2014 (S Con Res 8, H Con Res 25). It may therefore be less of a specific blueprint for appropriations and more a proposal in negotiations over the future of government funding. This summer will bring another potential battle over raising the debt limit, with sequestration still in place until an agreement on deficit reduction occurs. The budget proposal combines new revenue sources with cuts in spending, aiming for the still-elusive grand bargain needed to bring deficits down without harming the economy or the most vulnerable in America.

The top line HUD budget is $47.6 billion, which is a 9.7% increase above FY 2012 (two years ago). It renews funding primarily to preserve assistance for currently-assisted households, making cuts mostly in programs that create new units. In other words, the practical effect of this necessary triage is to put off and worsen the affordable housing needs of tomorrow by not creating needed units today. In several areas, the budget proposes program expansions or changes, noted in NHC’s budget summary, which also provides links to learn more. The summary table below gives a quick view of requested program funding levels.