CARH BROADCAST EMAIL—Legislative Alert

February 16, 2019

On Friday, after weeks of speculation that parts of the government could again shutdown, President Trump signed into law H.J. Res 31, legislation which will fund the remainder of the government, including the Departments of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Agriculture (USDA), and Treasury, through September 30, 2019, the end of Fiscal Year (FY) 2019.

As CARH members know from previous broadcast emails on funding of HUD, USDA Rural Development (RD) programs, and Treasury, these agencies did not have full year appropriation bills passed prior to October 1, 2018. Unfortunately, these agencies became part of the border security dispute that was not resolved, leading to the 35 day government shutdown earlier this year.

With the signing of the resolution into law, there will be no more shutdowns impacting FY 2019 funding. The USDA and HUD funding charts show the level of funding that both HUD and USDA housing programs are funded in FY 2019. Language has also been included that RD is to provide a detailed report in the next year on the maturing mortgage issue, including statistical data on number of mortgages, location of properties and solutions to preserving the portfolio.

In the three weeks since the government reopened after the partial shutdown, agencies have begun to distribute monies from program accounts that were impacted by the shutdown. There may have been some delays with this funding, but now that there is full year funding, those delays should quickly be resolved.

In terms of moving on to FY 2020, the proposed budget should have been released at the end of February. However, because of all of the controversies surrounding FY 2019, that proposed budget will likely not be released until late March or even as late as early April. No doubt there will likely be disputes as Congress begins consideration of the FY 2020 budget. Efforts will be made to get individual appropriations bills passed in an expedited fashion so that the issues surrounding FY 2019 will not be repeated. However, on the chance that we may see a shutdown like the recent one or with FY 2020 or after, CARH has written to USDA and HUD with suggestions for preparations in the event of a future shutdown. Of course, a shutdown is problematic for everyone and there is no way to make it harmless—indeed that might only make shutdowns longer—but there are a few administrative steps to help avoid the most stressful issues that members encountered in this last shutdown.

CARH will continue to advocate for full funding of all affordable housing programs in meetings with members of Congress and the Administration.