UPDATE: The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation-Housing and Urban Development passed its FY23 HUD appropriations bill on 6/23/22. The bill heads to the full House Committee on Appropriations for a 6/30/22 vote.
Federally supported housing for older adults and service coordinators would be among the winners in a $62.7 billion House funding bill proposal if passed as written.
The Transportation–Housing and Urban Development Subcommittee met Thursday to consider the House Committee on Appropriations’ fiscal year 2023 HUD funding bill. The almost $63 billion in proposed overall HUD funding is a $9 billion increase over fiscal year 2022 and $1.1 billion above President Biden’s 2023 budget request.
The bill would increase funding for Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly by more than 16% to $1.2 billion. Within the Section 202 funding, the bill would provide close to $290 million for capital advances and operating subsidies for 3,500 new affordable senior housing units. The bill also would allocate $400 million for Housing for Persons with Disabilities for 2,100 new affordable housing units.
Another $31 million is proposed to support budget-based rent increases at Section 8 project-based rental assistance properties serving older adults. The funding would cover the cost of service coordinators. Currently, according to LeadingAge, only 45% of HUD-assisted senior housing properties employ a service coordinator.
In addition, the bill would provide $125 million for the renewal of service coordinator grants — $5 million more than HUD requested. The bill also includes $25 million for intergenerational housing and funding for 140,000 new Housing Choice Vouchers, as well as $10 million for home modification grants for homes owned by older adults.
Affordable housing is one of LeadingAge’s top policy priorities for 2022. The aging services association projects an additional 13.8 million new older adult households between 2020 and 2040, 5.5 million of which will be renter households.
In March, HUD Deputy Secretary Adrianne Todman, speaking at the LeadingAge Leadership Summit, called the administration’s HUD budget proposal a “meaningful” investment that would help “folks who are trying to age with integrity.” HUD’s spending plan called for $966 million for Section 202 and $80 million for Section 811 housing for people with disabilities.
In May, a group of legislators led by Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) expressed support for “robust” funding to expand affordable senior housing to help older adults age in place.
