President Obama on Feb. 9 unveiled a $4.1 trillion fiscal year 2017 budget proposal to Congress that is up 5% from the current year.
 

But Republicans have made it clear they won’t even consider the proposal.  GOP lawmakers made the unusual move of not even inviting Office of Management and Budget Director Shaun Donovan to testify about the 2017 budget – further evidence of the ongoing gridlock and partisan divide that now grips Washington.
 

Still, the White House budget serves as the initial marker in the budget battle ahead. Given the size, cost, complexities and major policy overhauls that this blueprint entails, the debate in the weeks and months ahead is likely to be contentious as lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle consider its merits on an array of fronts- from social spending, energy policy to taxes.
 

Here’s how the proposed budget relates to the residential construction industry.
 

HUD
 

• Proposes $48.9 billion in HUD funding, a 15% increase over the $42.6 billion provided in the fiscal 2016 omnibus spending bill the President signed on December 18, 2015.
   
• Provides $20.85 billion for Section 8 Tenant Based Rental Assistance, with $18.45 billion for contract renewals and $7 million for Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (VASH). The fiscal 2016 approved appropriation provided $19.6 billion for the Section 8 program, with $17.68 billion earmarked for renewals and $60 million for VASH.
   
• Proposes $10.82 billion for Section 8 Project-based Rental Assistance, with $10.03 billion for contract renewals. Last year’s budget provided $10.62 billion for the program.
   
• Funds the HOME Program at $950 million, the same level as last year.
   
• Decreases Community Development Block Grant funding from $3 billion to $2.8 billion.
   
• Increases Choice Neighborhoods funding from $125 million to $200 million.
   

USDA
 

• Funds the Section 502 Direct Loan Program at $900 million, the same level as last year.
   
• Maintains funding for the Section 502 Guaranteed Rural Housing Loan Program at $24 billion, the same level as last year.
   
• Increases funding for the Section 515 Multifamily Direct Loan Program from $28.4 million to $33 million.
   
• Boosts funding for the Section 538 Multifamily Guaranteed Program from $150 million to $230 million.
   
• Provides $1.41 billion in funding for the Section 521 Rental Assistance Program. Last year’s budget provided $1.39 billion, with $75 million to renew contracts that were insufficiently funded in fiscal 2015.
   
• Allocates $34 million for multifamily housing revitalization, with $18 million for vouchers. Last year’s budget provided $37 million, with $15 million for vouchers.
  
   

As the budget process moves forward in the year ahead, NAHB will remain deeply engaged, fighting to strip out any provisions that will harm housing and promoting elements that will help small businesses and the housing sector.
 

For more information, email Jessica Hall at NAHB or call her at 800-368-5242 x8253