Urge Congress to Raise Harmful Spending Caps
On September 15 and 16, people from across the country will call their members of Congress and deliver a simple, unified message: raise the sequester caps and fully fund housing programs.
This Tuesday and Wednesday, please take a few moments to call your members of Congress. Ideally, you can make three calls—one to Senator Mark Kirk, one to Senator Dick Durbin and one to your Representative.
If you only have time to make one call, please call Senator Mark Kirk.
To do so, dial the Congressional switchboard at 877-210-5351 and ask to speak with your legislator. Tell the receptionist in your legislator’s office how important affordable housing is to your community and leave this simple message:
“It’s time to pass a housing budget that works for our communities. Please raise the sequester caps and fully fund housing programs.”
Background
The Budget Control Act of 2011’s spending caps have led to devastating cuts to critical housing programs. Additional “sequester” caps for fiscal year 2016 would bring more deep cuts for HUD and Rural Housing Services programs.
For example, the HUD spending bills either passed by the House or passed by the Senate Committee on Appropriations, which comply with the sequester spending caps, would:
- Empty the National Housing Trust Fund in 2016 and forever after (House bill).
- Effectively eliminate the HOME program with a 93% funding cut (Senate bill).
- Fail to renew existing vouchers (House bill would not renew 28,000 existing vouchers, Senate bill would not renew 50,000 existing vouchers).
- Insufficiently fund the renewal of all project-based rental assistance contracts (House bill).
- Cut public housing capital funds (House and Senate bills).
- Eliminate increases sought by HUD for Homeless Assistance Grants (House and Senate bills).
If Congress fails to replace sequestration with a balanced approach to deficit reduction that achieves parity in relief for non-defense discretionary (NDD) and defense programs, legislators will be locked into passing final spending bills with these severe cuts.
These call-in days are being coordinated by Caps Hurt Communities, an advocacy campaign to build a movement of individuals and organizations committed to bringing an end to federal sequester caps.
To learn more about the impact of the sequester caps on housing programs, please visit: http://nlihc.org/issues/budget.