Housing Choice Vouchers: Funding Outlook and Impact on Ending Homelessness

1. Housing Choice Vouchers:
Funding Outlook and Impact on
Ending Homelessness
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
National Alliance to End Homelessness
September 26, 2013

2. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
cbpp.org
Agenda
1) How did we get here? The Budget Control Act and
sequestration
2) What is the impact of recent budget cuts on low-
income families in need of housing assistance?
3) The budget fight continues: How might it play out and
what’s at stake for community efforts to end
homelessness?
4) What can advocates do to influence the outcome?
5) Q & A
With Panelists:
Barbara Sard and Doug Rice, CBPP
Steve Berg and Kate Seif, National Alliance to End
Homelessness

3. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
1. Set binding caps on “discretionary” spending in each
fiscal year from 2012 to 2021, with separate sub-
caps for defense and non-defense programs.
2. Triggered “sequestration” when Congress failed to
agree on at least $1.2 trillion more in deficit
reduction. Requires (i) automatic, across-the-board
cuts in non-exempt entitlement and discretionary
programs in FY 2013, and (ii) cuts in FY 2014 –
2021, including by lowering the defense and
nondefense discretionary spending caps.
The Budget Control Act of 2011 (BCA)
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4. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
cbpp.org
Deficit Reduction Enacted Since 2010,
Excluding Sequestration
$1.6 trillion in program cuts (mostly BCA
discretionary spending caps)
$0.7 trillion in revenues (“fiscal cliff” deal)
$0.5 trillion in interest savings
$2.8 trillion in total deficit reduction enacted
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5. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
cbpp.org
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6. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
cbpp.org
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Nondefense Discretionary Program Spending Will
Fall to Lowest Level on Record Under BCA Caps

7. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
cbpp.org
Percent cut in HUD housing assistance program funding,
relative to 2010, adjusted for inflation
Note: Sources are OMB and CBO data. Figures include discretionary HUD program funding for public housing, the Section 8 programs,
homeless assistance, HOME, and smaller housing assistance programs, but not mortgage credit or community development programs.
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Three Waves of HUD Housing Assistance Cuts Since 2010

8. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
cbpp.org
Source: CBPP analysis of HUD data.
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Sequestration Is Causing Deep Cuts in the Number of
Families Using Housing Vouchers

9. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
cbpp.org
Budget Decision Timeline
• Federal fiscal year 2014 begins on October 1
• To avoid a “shutdown” – and give itself time to
negotiate a budget/debt ceiling deal – Congress
will try to approve a “continuing resolution” (CR) to
fund programs into Nov/Dec at FY 2013, post-
sequestration levels
• Federal government could hit the statutory debt
limit in mid-October; to avoid default, Congress
must act to raise/suspend the limit
• House may pass debt ceiling bill this week
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10. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
cbpp.org
How Might This Play Out for FY 2014?
• Congress’ goal is a budget deal that raises the debt ceiling,
sets overall discretionary funding levels for FY 2014, and
possibly modifies sequestration. But House and Senate far
apart on these and other budget and policy issues that will
be brought into play
• Opportunity: Good deal could reduce or eliminate
sequestration cuts – opening path for Congress to complete
omnibus for FY 2014
• Risk: Bad deal could replace sequestration with other cuts
in entitlement safety net or NDD programs
• Default option is full-year CR, with no changes in
sequestration or discretionary funding caps; may include
“anomalies” (i.e., funding adjustments) 9
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11. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
cbpp.org
What Happens to Discretionary Funding
in FY 2014 Under the BCA Spending Caps?
Table 1
2014 Discretionary Levels (billions of dollars)
Freeze at 2013 level
after sequestration (CR)
Budget Control Act cap
before sequestration
Budget Control Act cap
after sequestration
Defense 518 552 498
Nondefense 468 506 469
Total 986 1058 967
Source: Joel Friedman et al., “Clearing Up Misunderstandings: Sequestration Would Not Be Tougher on Defense Than Non-
Defense Programs in 2014,” Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, September 18, 2013,
http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=4019.
• For nondefense category, post-sequestration funding
in 2014 is roughly level with 2013
• For defense, post-sequestration funding in 2014 is
~$20 billion below the 2013 level, mostly because
“fiscal cliff” deal reduced sequestration in 2013

12. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
cbpp.org
Range of Possible Funding Levels for HUD Programs in FY 2014?
(Millions of dollars)
2012
2014
under CR
(same as 2013)
2014
sample
omnibus
(Senate)
Housing Choice Voucher Renewals *$17,242 $16,349 $17,568
Housing Choice Voucher Admin $1,350 $1,306 $1,685
Public Housing Operating $3,962 $4,054 $4,600
Public Housing Capital $1,875 $1,777 $2,000
Section 8 Project-Based Rental Asst. $9,340 $8,851 $10,700
Homeless Assistance $1,901 $1,933 $2,260
HOME $1,000 $948 $1,000
Section 202 Elderly Housing $375 $355 $400
Section 811 People with Disabilities $165 $156 $126
Native American Housing Grants $650 $616 $675
CDBG Formula Grants $2,948 $3,078 $3,150
* Figure includes reserve offset amount.

13. What’s at stake for ending homelessness?
• Under the law, ¾ of Section 8 voucher
admissions must have extremely low
incomes, i.e., people who are homeless or
at severe risk of homelessness
• HUD-VASH – exempt from sequestration
but not exempt from discretionary caps
• FUP vouchers
• Nonelderly disabled (NED) vouchers

14. What’s at stake for ending homelessness?
Data suggest that people who lose a
housing subsidy are at high risk for
homelessness

15. What’s at stake for ending homelessness?
In some communities, Section 8 turnover
has been targeted by campaigns to end
homelessness for those with severe
problems for whom rapid re-housing may
not work.
• HUD 10-city initiative with PHAs
• 100,000 Homes campaign

16. What’s at stake for ending homelessness?
A Section 8 voucher is, for the vast majority of
low-income people, a solid bulwark against
homelessness.
Section 8 vouchers may also be “project-based”
for the development of permanent supportive
housing for people who need services to remain
stably housed.

17. Impacting the Outcome
• Decisions are still being made about sequestration and funding
for FY 2014 and beyond
– It’s essential to remind Members about the importance of these
programs
• Section 8 vouchers do impact homelessness
– Must make sure Congress knows this!
• Messaging
– HUD needs more money to maintain existing activities, hold the line
on homelessness, and continue operating programs that work

18. What You Can Do
• Make calls! Write letters!
– Use Alliance and CBPP materials to assist you
• Keep getting the message out about the need for
increased HUD funding
• Both immediate and long-term advocacy effort
– Efforts have been successful, we need to keep them up!
• Remind Members not to balance the budget on the backs of our
nation’s poorest people!

19. More Information/Resources
Kate Seif, Policy Outreach Coordinator
cseif@naeh.org / 202.942.8256
http://www.endhomelessness.org/pages/advocacy
How S8 Impacts Homelessness:
http://www.endhomelessness.org/library/entry/section-8-
housing-the-lowest-income-families
Talking Points:
http://www.endhomelessness.org/library/entry/funding-for-
section-8-housing-choice-voucher-program-congressional-
talking

20. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
cbpp.org
Useful CBPP Resources
• Report on sequestration and House/Senate FY 2014
HUD funding bills, including state-by-state data on impact
of funding cuts in major HUD programs, 2010 – 2013:
http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=3993
• State-by-state data on HUD rental assistance programs,
the families they serve, and unmet needs:
http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=3586
• Lots of info on issues related to the broader budget fight:
http://www.cbpp.org/research/index.cfm?fa=topic&id=2
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21. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
cbpp.org
Q & A
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