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Tuesday, January 25, 2011

The Department of Housing and Urban Development: FY2010 Appropriations

Maggie McCarty, Coordinator
Specialist in Housing Policy

Libby Perl
Specialist in Housing Policy

Katie Jones
Analyst in Housing Policy

Bruce E. Foote
Analyst in Housing Policy

Eugene Boyd
Analyst in Federalism and Economic Development Policy


President Obama’s first budget request included over $45 billion for the Department of Housing and Urban Development in FY2010. The requested funding level was roughly $4 billion more than was provided in regular annual appropriations in FY2009 by P.L. 111-8. However, it is about $9 billion less than total FY2009 funding for HUD, if the more than $13 billion in emergency economic stimulus funding provided by P.L. 111-5 is taken into account.

This budget request included increased funding for most HUD programs, such as the Section 8 voucher program, public housing program, housing programs for persons who are elderly or disabled, and block grant programs for states and localities. It also proposed several new initiatives focused on Administration priorities related to information technology and research capacity, energy efficiency, and distressed communities.

On July 23, 2009, the House passed its version of the FY2010 HUD funding bill (H.R. 3288). It included increases in funding over the President’s requested level for many HUD programs. It did not fund all of the President’s new initiatives, citing a need for authorizing legislation (H.Rept. 111-218). In total, the House-passed bill would have provided almost $1.6 billion (3.4%) more in new appropriations for HUD than the President requested.

On August 5, 2009, the Senate Appropriations Committee reported its version of H.R. 3288 (S.Rept. 111-69). Like the House-passed version, it included increases in funding for many HUD programs. It also included funding for some, but not all, of the President’s new initiatives. The bill would have included about $1.2 billion less in new appropriations for HUD than the Housepassed bill, but $343 million (0.7%) more than the President’s request. On September 17, 2009, the bill was approved by the full Senate, with several policy-related amendments, none of which affected funding levels.

Because most of the annual appropriations bills were not enacted before the start of the 2010 fiscal year, Congress approved a series of short-term continuing resolutions (CR) to maintain funding for government operations.

On December 16, 2009, President Obama signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2010 (P.L. 111-117) into law, funding HUD and most other government agencies for the remainder of FY2010. The act provided a higher overall funding level for HUD than requested by the President, and higher than proposed by the Senate, but lower than proposed by the House. It funded versions of several of the Obama Administration’s new initiatives, including the Choice Neighborhoods Initiative and the Energy Innovation Fund.

This report analyzes recent trends in the HUD budget and tracks legislative action and summarizes key budget issues in the FY2010 budget process.



Date of Report: January 4, 2011
Number of Pages: 40
Order Number: R40727
Price: $29.95

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