It?s the fourth time the Trump administration has taken aim at housing subsidies The Trump administration released its budget proposal today for fiscal year 2020, and like its previous budget requests for 2017, 2018, and 2019, the administration is proposing steep cuts to both the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Department of Transportation (DoT).
For HUD, the budget requests $44.1 billion in discretionary funding, a 16.4 percent decrease from 2019 funding levels. For DoT, the budget requests $21.4 billion in discretionary spending, a 22 percent decrease from 2019 funding levels.
With control of Congress now split between the two parties, Trump?s budget is likely dead on arrival, but the drastic proposed cuts would put advocates for government-funding housing assistance on the defensive, instead of fighting for increases that some believe are badly needed. ?With this budget request, President Trump and [HUD] Secretary [Ben] Carson are making clear in no uncertain terms their willingness to increase evictions and homelessness?for the vulnerable seniors, people with disabilities and families with kids who will be unable to manage having to spend more of their very limited incomes to cover rent hikes,? said Diane Yentel, president of the National Low Income Housing Coalition, in a statement. ?This is a cruel and unconscionable budget proposal, and it should be soundly rejected by Congress.?
The 2020 budget fight is getting underway on the heels ...