House Appropriations Committee Approves Fiscal Year 2020 T-HUD Funding Bill
The House Appropriations Committee yesterday approved the Fiscal Year 2020 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies bill, known as T-HUD, by a 29-21 vote.
The bill, which had support from the Mortgage Bankers Association, funds HUD, FHA and Ginnie Mae, as well as the Department of Transportation. It provides $137.1 billion in budgetary resources, an increase of $6 billion above the 2019 enacted level and $17.3 billion above the Trump Administration’s budget request. The bill includes also included $75.8 billion in discretionary funding, an increase of $4.7 billion over the 2019 enacted level and $17.3 billion over the Administration’s 2020 budget request.
From an MBA standpoint, the bill provides the following:
–$130 million for HUD’s administrative contract expenses, below HUD’s initial budgetary request (supported by MBA) for $150 million. The funding would enable FHA to improve resources, both in staffing and systems upgrades, to maintain its important, countercyclical role as a government-backed mortgage insurer.
–$300 million for HUD’s Cybersecurity and Information Technology Fund to help the agency better meet its acute information technology needs on a broad basis, as well as the specified $20 million from that Fund to be used in the ongoing upgrade of FHA’s decades-old single-family IT infrastructure.
–$30 billion in commitment authority for the General and Special Risk Insurance Fund to support FHA’s multifamily and healthcare finance programs, as well as funding for rental assistance, particularly Section 8 Project Based Rental Assistance.
–$27 million for Ginnie Mae to support an increased level for staffing, training and technology needs, below Ginnie Mae’s request for $28.4 million.
–A prohibition on federal funds used to facilitate eminent domain seizures of performing mortgage loans for the sixth consecutive year, which MBA said has effectively defused this threat.
–$60 million in housing and homeownership counseling.
Earlier this week MBA sent a letter to committee members urging their support of the T-HUD appropriations bill.
A summary of the bill can be found at https://appropriations.house.gov/news/press-releases/appropriations-committee-releases-fiscal-year-2020-transportation-housing-and.
The text of the bill can be found at https://appropriations.house.gov/sites/democrats.appropriations.house.gov/files/FY2020%20THUD%20Sub%20Markup%20Draft.pdf.
The bill report can be found at https://appropriations.house.gov/sites/democrats.appropriations.house.gov/files/FY2020%20THUD%20Draft%20Report.pdf.
The bill now goes to the full House for a vote later this summer.
