The President’s FY 2017 Budget provides the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) with $48.9 billion in gross discretionary funding, Joshua D. Mosshart

The Deptartment of Housing Mission:

HUD's mission is to create strong, sustainable, inclusive communities and quality affordable homes for all. HUD is working to strengthen the housing market to bolster the economy and protect consumers; meet the need for quality affordable rental homes; utilize housing as a platform for improving quality of life; build inclusive and sustainable communities free from discrimination, and transform the way HUD does business.

The President’s FY 2017 Budget provides the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) with $48.9 billion in gross discretionary funding and $11.3 billion in new mandatory spending over ten years, with an emphasis on supporting 4.5 million households through rental assistance; increasing homeless assistance; supporting tribal communities and providing opportunities to Native American youth; and making targeted investments in communities to help revitalize high-poverty neighborhoods and improve housing affordability. 

This includes: 

1. Providing over $38 billion in rental housing assistance to support 4.5 million low-income families through the Housing Choice Voucher, Project-Based Rental Assistance, and Public Housing Programs; 
2. Ending family and chronic homelessness, and continuing to make progress across all targeted populations, by investing $11 billion in mandatory spending and $2.8 billion in discretionary spending for targeted homeless assistance; 
3. Improving mobility for low-income families to access higher opportunity areas by investing $15 million for a Mobility Counseling Demonstration, and ensuring that Public Housing Authorities (PHAs) have sufficient resources to promote mobility by increasing PHA administrative fees to a fully-funded level of $2.1 billion; 
4. Investing $200 million to transform neighborhoods with distressed HUD-assisted housing and concentrated poverty into opportunity-rich, mixed-income neighborhoods through the Choice Neighborhoods program; 
5. Providing $786 million to address the housing and community development needs of Native Americans, including $20 million targeted to Native youth; 
6. Narrowing the digital divide for students and families in HUD-assisted housing through actions that include a strategic investment of $5 million for the ConnectHome initiative; 
7. Preserving affordable housing units through the Rental Assistance Demonstration program by providing $50 million and a targeted expansion to include certain properties that provide housing for the elderly; 
8. Investing $300 million in local community efforts to reduce barriers to housing development and increase housing affordability; and 
9. Increasing job training and financial incentives for employment for public housing and Native American households through Jobs-Plus, an evidence-based program funded at $35 million. 

Fiscal Year 2017 Budget Reforms: 

1. Enhances local decision making, improves program accountability, and provides more options for regional coordination and planning through a series of reforms to the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program. 
2. Updates the formula of the Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) program by using HIV incidence rates and adjusting for fair market rents and poverty rates to better reflect the current nature and distribution of the epidemic. 

HUD’s Fiscal Year 2017 Budget Prioritizes Ending Family Homelessness and Increasing Opportunity for Resident of Low-Income Neighborhoods through these initiatives:

1. Ends family homelessness and chronic homelessness, and continues to make progress across all targeted populations. 
2. Provides Opportunity for Vulnerable Families through Housing Assistance. 
3. Improves mobility through the Housing Choice Voucher program. 
4. Expands Opportunity in High Poverty Communities. 
5. Improves Employment Outcomes for HUD-Assisted Households. 
6. Supports Local Efforts to Improve Housing Affordability and Economic Opportunity. 
7. Provides Communities with New Flexibilities to Help Families Achieve Self- Sufficiency. 

Invests in Programs that Serve Native Americans, including Native Youth, The Budget invests $700 million for Native American Housing Block Grants, $50 million above the 2016 enacted level.

Contractors or businesses that provide services to aid in HUD's initiatives are in the front of the line for grants, cooperative agreements and contracts.

Source: HUD

Joshua D. Mosshart MSFS, CHFC, CASL, CLU