Federal Policy & Advocacy Update:

Transcription

1 Federal Policy & Advocacy Update: Capitol Hill Day 2015 Capitol Hill Day Resources: ss.org/library/entry/capito l-hill-day-2015

2 Introductory Logistics Lines are muted to facilitate this call. A recording of this webinar will be posted online / ed in the next few days Submit Questions! If you have questions during the webinar, submit them in the question box on your control panel. We will answer as many questions as possible at the end of the webinar.

3 Today s Agenda Introduction Capitol Hill Day Logistics and Policy Overview Policy Priorities: Update, Ask, Action Needed, Talking Points Questions

4 Federal Policy: Overview and Outlook Appropriations bills have stalled Not likely going anywhere before August Recess Bills overall, especially HUD bills, are weak Senate bill is slightly better than House, but both are bad HHS bills passed through Appropriations Committees, then stalled VA bill that passed through full House not great; Senate Appropriations Committee better

5 Hill Day Logistics Capitol Hill Day is Friday, July 17! Thank you State Captains for organizing Hill Day! Contact Jeanna Gover, ) for info about participating in congressional visits. ary/entry/capitol-hill-day-2015

6 Hill Day Logistics Check in: Capitol Hill Day Table (across from Registration) Get your Capitol Hill Day packet and materials Find out when your state s prep session is Meeting for all State Captains 8 am Thursday in Meeting Room 2 Congressional meetings - mostly Friday afternoon

7 Capitol Hill Day Policy Agenda Reflects critical issues being considered AS WE SPEAK Issues we can impact at the time of the conference Prioritize issues for each meeting more progress Alliance can help you decide which issue(s) to focus on with each Member of Congress

8 Policy Priority Updates

9 Appropriations: McKinney Provide $2.480 billion for HUD s McKinney-Vento programs Latest Update: Final FY 2015 Level: $2.135 billion Administration: Requested $2.480 billion Full House: $2.185 B ($50 million increase) Senate Appropriations Committee: $2.235 B

10 Appropriations: McKinney What will these funding levels do? $2.185 billion House Will likely maintain CoC and ESG capacity At least $250 million for ESG No money for new projects $2.235 billion Senate Likely to cover FY 2015 renewals At least $250 million for ESG Limited funding for new projects $40 million for homeless youth initiatives

11 Appropriations: McKinney Talking Points These programs work! Focus on outcomes and impact Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) Rapid Re-Housing and Prevention Still seeing increased need Dearth of affordable housing options Will provide sufficient funding to: Jump-start work on youth homelessness End chronic homelessness by 2017 and make progress on ending family homelessness

12 Housing Choice Vouchers aka Section 8 Status Sequestration downsized the program, FY 2014 bill got back some but that stalled in FY15 and we need 67,000 more to get back to pre-sequestration level. Administration request $ billion House bill $ billion Senate bill $ billion

13 Housing Choice Vouchers aka Section 8 Upshot House and Senate bills may cover existing vouchers, Senate adds FUP/DV, and HUD-VASH but both are well short of pre-sequestration level HUD needs more money to cover Administration request 67,000 vouchers just to get back to earlier level. Targeting to high-need would help end homelessness.

14 Housing Choice Vouchers aka Section 8 Our goals: 1. Make sure there s enough money to fund 67,000 additional vouchers in FY 16 (Administration s request). 2. To be most effective at ending homelessness, new vouchers should be targeted at highest-need households, through a competitive or performancebased process.

15 Appropriations: VA Latest Update: FY 2015 level: $1.4 bill Admin proposed: $1.4 billion House passed Administration s proposal in April Includes CUTS to GPD, no new VASH vouchers Senate Appropriations Committee improved upon VA s proposal by $200 million (Extra funds for SSVF, etc.) Talking Points: Need Continue progress Cost-effectiveness Community partnerships

16 Appropriations: VA Programs Provide $1.6 billion for homeless veteran programs within VA, including: $500 million for Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF); Pass legislative fix to go above SSVF cap $250 million for Grant and Per Diem; and $374 million for HUD-VASH case management

17 Update: RHYA Program President s Request: $123 million for RHYA House Appropriations: $114 million (flat funding) Senate Appropriations: $116 million Request: $165 million for RHYA, including dedicated funding for prevalence & incidence study

18 RHYA Appropriations Action Steps: Let Members of Congress know about how homeless youth in your community are impacted by lack of targeted youth resources. Request funding at $165 million, including $2 million for incidence and prevalence study

19 RHYA Appropriations Talking Points: Demand for Services Greatly Exceeds Supply RHYA Is An Effective Program Youth Without Services Are Highly Vulnerable RHYA can Help Youth Avoid Long-Term Homelessness, System Involvement, and Victimization Accurate Data from Incidence and Prevalence Study Required to Ensure Congress and Localities Right-Size and Target Interventions to Meet Needs

20 Appropriations: SAMHSA Programs Appropriations Bills from H & S propose large cuts to PATH Program Senate: $25 million cut from $65 million FY15 level or 38% decrease House: proposing $10 million cut H&S are proposing $2 million cut to SAMHSA homeless programs but in different places (3% cut) Senate is proposing a $50 million cut to the Substance Abuse Block Grant (3% cut)

21 NLIHC Trust Fund Overview Elayne Weiss, Policy Analyst July 9, 2015

22 National Housing Trust Fund- Defense House Ask: Oppose H.R. 574, the Pay Back the Taxpayers Act of 2015, introduced by Representative Ed Royce (R-CA), or any other efforts that would prevent Fannie and Freddie from providing the funding to the NHTF or prevent HUD from implementing the NHTF. Senate Ask: Oppose any attempts to add language to Appropriations bills or any other bills that would prevent Fannie and Freddie from providing the funding for the NHTF or prevent HUD from implementing the NHTF

23 National Housing Trust Fund- Housing Finance Reform Support housing finance reform legislation in the 114th Congress that provides at least the same level of funding for the NHTF that was in S. 1217, the Johnson-Crapo bipartisan bill ($3.75 billion a year) or H.R. 5055, the Delaney-Carney-Himes bill ($4.5 billion), from the last Congress. Oppose housing finance reform legislation in the 114th Congress that would eliminate the NHTF and the CMF as was in H.R. 2767, the Hensarling bill, from the last Congress.

24 National Housing Trust Fund- Tax Reform House Ask: Co-sponsor H.R. 1662, the Common Sense Housing Investment Act, introduced by Representative Keith Ellison (D-MN) and H.R. 2721, the Pathways Out of Poverty Act, introduced by Representative Barbara Lee (D-CA). Senate Ask: Support the United for Homes campaign s proposed changes to the mortgage interest deduction in comprehensive tax reform legislation.

25 National Housing Trust Fund- Tax Reform The United for Homes campaign has proposed two key changes to the mortgage interest deduction: (1) lowering the cap on the size of a mortgage for which a household can get a tax break from $1 million to $500,000 and (2) converting the deduction to a 15% nonrefundable credit. These two changes, phased in over 10 years, would raise $230 billion that should be applied to the NHTF.

26 Call to Action! Not a year for business as usual The Administration has backed Opening Doors, and under that plan this year is the time to finish the job of funding work to end veterans homelessness, and chronic homelessness Congress needs to put the money on the table to finish the job They won t do it unless they hear from constituents that it s important, and that the money will make good things happen.

27 Capitol Hill Day Materials: ntry/capitol-hill-day-2015 For more information, contact: Julie Klein: / Jamie Colman: / Jeanna Gover: /