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US Federal housing expenditures: Difference between revisions
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from [NLIHC 2002] report:
<blockquote>
''"The much lower level of HUD budget authority that has persisted since 1985 reflects cuts to programs and changes in the way subsidized housing has been financed. In the 1960s and 70s, subsidy contracts ran for 30 years (or 40 for public housing), so a high level of budget authority was required to finance the developments. '''The calculation of budget authority was the maximum subsidy commitment multiplied by the length of the commitment. This had the effect of making low income housing appear to be outrageously expensive. So contract lengths were shortened, to 15 years, then 10, then 5, then 1, bringing budget authority and outlays more closely into line'''.<br/> <br/> "In the early 1990s, these subsidy contracts of varying lengths started expiring. Again to cope with the amount of budget authority generated, the renewal terms were shortened."''
</blockquote>
== Claims of major funding cuts post-1980 ==
News coverage and advocacy materials often state variations of this statement:
*the US Federal government spent three times as much on housing programs in before 1980 compared to now [i.e. late 2010s]; or
*Federal housing funding has been cut 75% [sometimes 80%] since 1980, or since Reagan presidency.
It appears this claim is based on HUD Budget Authority Figures, which were much higher before the early 1980s largely because of change in how they were calculated (see [[HUD Budget Outlays vs Budget Authority]] section above.
One key dissemination was the ''New York Times'' article of January 18, 2019, "[https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/18/upshot/microsoft-seattle-affordable-housing-plan.html Microsoft’s Leap Into Housing Illuminates Government’s Retreat,]" by Emily Badger:
<blockquote>
''"The government spent about three times as much on housing programs in the 1970s as it does today, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition. "''
''“Diane Yentel, the president of the National Low Income Housing Coalition, said she would welcome a trend in which more major tech companies put up money to address housing. But she warned of the risk of further letting the government off the hook.<br/> <br/> 'Today’s modern phenomenon of homelessness didn’t exist in the late 1970s because our country housed almost everyone, including the lowest-income and most vulnerable families,' Ms. Yentel said in an email. 'The key difference between then and now is declining federal subsidies.'"''
</blockquote>
For the "''spent about three times as much" ''figure, the article cites Yentel testimony presented to the Financial Services Committee, US House of Representatives, December 21, 2018. [Yentel 2018]:
''"The shortage of affordable rental homes is caused by market failure and chronic underfunding of solutions..."''
<blockquote>
''"Today’s modern phenomenon of homelessness did not exist in the late-1970s because our country housed almost everyone, including the lowest-income and most vulnerable families. At that time, our country had a modest surplus of homes affordable and available to the lowest income people. The primary difference between then and now: federal subsidies. Funding for affordable housing solutions has been declining for decades. '''Adjusting for inflation, the federal budget authority for housing assistance programs in the 1970s was nearly three times more than it is today''',''<sup>18</sup>''despite the significant growth in the number of low-income renters eligible for housing assistance (see figure 3).<sup>19</sup>"''
</blockquote>
Figure 3 from Yentel's testimony is below:
[[File:HUD-Budget-Authority-1977-2017-from-Yentel-2018.png|thumb|left|800px|HUD Budget Authority 1977-2017, from Yentel 2018]]
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== References ==
*Badger, Emily. "Microsoft’s Leap Into Housing Illuminates Government’s Retreat." ''The New York Times'', Jan. 18, 2019. [https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/18/upshot/microsoft-seattle-affordable-housing-plan.html https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/18/upshot/microsoft-seattle-affordable-housing-plan.html].<br/>
*Bell, Allison. "2019 Bill Largely Sustains 2018 HUD Funding Gains." ''Center on Budget and Policy Priorities'', February 15 2019. [https://www.cbpp.org/blog/2019-bill-largely-sustains-2018-hud-funding-gains https://www.cbpp.org/blog/2019-bill-largely-sustains-2018-hud-funding-gains].<br/>
*Congressional Research Service. "Overview of Federal Housing Assistance Programs and Policy." March 27, 2019. [https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/RL/RL34591 https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/RL/RL34591].<br/>
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*Kimura, Donna. "Fiscal 2019 HUD Budget Approved: A spending package funds HUD at $44.2 billion, an increase from 2018."'' Affordable Housing Finance, ''February 20, 2019''. ''[https://www.housingfinance.com/news/fiscal-2019-hud-budget-approved_o https://www.housingfinance.com/news/fiscal-2019-hud-budget-approved_o]. <br/>
*NLIHC (2002): see [Dolbeare & Crowley, 200].<br/>
*Thompson, Lawrence L. (2006). "A History of HUD." Self-published, by 25-year employee of HUD. [http://monarchhousing.org/wp-content/uploads/2007/03/hud-history.pdf. http://monarchhousing.org/wp-content/uploads/2007/03/hud-history.pdf.
*Yentel, Diane (2018). "Testimony of Diane Yentel, President and CEO, National Low Income Housing Coalition Presented to the Financial Services Committee, United States House of Representatives. " December 21, 2018. [https://financialservices.house.gov/uploadedfiles/12.21.201_diane_yentel_testimony.pdf https://financialservices.house.gov/uploadedfiles/12.21.201_diane_yentel_testimony.pdf].
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