The Trump Budget: A Train Wreck That Must Be Stopped

Recently, the Trump Administration released its detailed budget proposal for Fiscal Year (FY) 2018, which would have devastating consequences for low-income residents across the country. The proposed budget slashes funding for rental assistance for poor households, eliminates critically important housing and community development resources, and raises rents for the poorest Americans. The Trump budget would put low-income families and seniors on the street, significantly increase rent burdens and lead to the loss of valuable affordable housing.

You probably already know that the President’s budget would eliminate HOME, Community Development Block Grants, Choice Neighborhoods, and the National Housing Trust Fund. What you may not realize is that it would also fail to provide full funding for project-based Section 8 rental assistance, eliminate Housing Choice Vouchers for more than 250,000 low-income households, and cut public housing funding by nearly 29 percent compared to 2017.

The Trump budget proposes to reduce costs by creating fundamental changes in rental assistance, intensifying the already heavy burden on those struggling to get by. For the first time ever, the Trump Administration would increase tenant contributions toward rent, increase minimum rents, eliminate utility reimbursement payment for the lowest-income residents, and create a one-year freeze on annual rent adjustments. The proposal would slash voucher funding for families impacted by housing conversion and opt outs and modify payment standards; putting those residents at much greater risk of displacement.

Don’t be lulled by murmurs that the President’s budget is “dead on arrival.” Congressional leaders are highly motivated to find savings to pay for tax reform for the wealthy and increase spending on defense, so they will look for any chance to take a hatchet to domestic appropriations that pay for education, environmental protection or housing for the neediest among us.  We fully anticipate congressional leaders to propose “Trump lite” cuts, which themselves are harmful. The math is simple: Only one in four eligible low-income Americans receive housing assistance. Any cut in rental assistance means more people on the street or shouldering a crushing burden of increased rent. Even smaller spending cuts and watered down versions of these proposals would be disastrous for low-income Americans. 

Housing advocates must work tirelessly to educate members of Congress about how less draconian versions of the proposed HUD budget would harm the poorest Americans. Now is the time to present success stories about how housing assistance helps families and the elderly stabilize their lives and access opportunity. NHT intends to soon mount the "Where Will We Live” campaign, which will document compelling stories, secure local media coverage, and plan site visits to educate key members of Congress.

Urge your Senators and Representatives to completely reject the Trump budget and instead develop a bipartisan budget agreement that raises the spending caps, maintains parity between defense and non-defense spending, and fully funds housing assistance.