LeadingAge Analysis: White House Proposes HUD Budget Cuts to Senior Housing While Addressing Older Adult Homelessness
On March 11th, the White House released its budget request for Fiscal Year (FY) 2025, which will begin on Oct. 1st. Because of strict budget caps imposed by the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, the Administration’s proposed budget balances mostly level funding for key agencies and programs with proposals for new initiatives.
LeadingAge is thrilled to see a new emphasis on affordable housing in the Administration’s messaging and budget, including a proposal for new mandatory spending over 10 years to address the rise in older adult homelessness. At the same time, LeadingAge is deeply concerned with the loss of key senior housing priorities in the proposed budget for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), such as funding to build new Section 202 homes or to establish new Service Coordination programs – both of which were omitted from the proposal.
Read LeadingAge’s full analysis of these housing proposals here, and read about the impact of the request on the broader aging services continuum here.
In addition to the budget request, the White House also delivered its requests for changes to mandatory spending programs to Congress on March 11th. For affordable housing programs, the Administration continues to seek a reduction in the 50 percent private activity bond financing requirement for Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTCs). Under the proposal, a building would be eligible to earn LIHTCs after securing 25 percent (rather than the current 50 percent) private activity bond financing of the building and land.
The White House is also asking Congress to repeal the LIHTC qualified contract provision, which would mean that an owner could no longer end the extended use period for an LIHTC building by requesting and failing to receive a qualified contract to purchase the building.
Finally, the White House is seeking to repeal the Right of First Refusal (ROFR) safe harbor and replace it with a safe harbor option allowing only persons who are eligible to hold an ROFR under current law to be the holder(s) of the option. This change would protect nonprofit owners from losing their buildings to aggressive investors wishing to gain control and nullify the intent of the ROFR provisions.
LeadingAge supports these LIHTC proposals and looks forward to working toward their enactment. The White House’s General Explanations of the Administration’s Fiscal Year 2025 Revenue Proposals describe these and other tax policy requests for FY 2025.
Contact: Annalyse Komoroske Denio, akomoroskedenio@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8866