House Passes FY 2018 Omnibus Spending Bill

The House of Representatives recently passed a $1.23 trillion Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 omnibus spending bill that includes funding for HUD. The Make America Secure and Prosperous Appropriations Act for FY 2018, H.R. 3354, is now headed to the Senate. However, the bill is not expected to be brought up for a vote there. Instead, the measure may be used as the House’s starting position for negotiations over full-year FY 2018 appropriations legislation that could take place at a later time.

The House-passed FY 2018 omnibus provides $511 billion for non-defense spending, which includes HUD housing programs. The omnibus provides $38.3 billion in total net discretionary spending for HUD programs, $483 million less than the FY 2017 enacted level. This overall amount is unchanged from the bill the House Appropriations Committee passed on July 17, but the House adopted several amendments that shift funding among HUD programs. One amendment increases funding for the Section 202 Housing for the Elderly program by $2.5 million, offset by a $2.5 million reduction to HUD’s Office of Policy Development and Research. Another amendment provides for an increase in the public housing capital fund by $2 million, offset by a $2 million reduction to HUD’s Information Technology (IT) Fund.

An amendment by Representatives Tenney (R-NY) and LoBiondo (R-NJ) shifts $10 million in funding from the Public Housing Operating Fund to the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program. There was also an amendment adopted to increase funding for the Housing for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) program by $19 million, offset by a $19 million reduction to HUD’s IT Fund. Another amendment by Representative Knight (R-CA) increases funding for CDBG by $100 million, offset by a $100 million reduction to HUD’s IT Fund.

The House also voted in favor of a “sanctuary cities” amendment offered by Representative Smith (R-MO) that prohibits HUD from providing funds to states and local governments that prohibit or in any way restrict sending to or receiving from the Immigration and Naturalization Service information regarding the citizenship or immigration status of any individual.