The respective House and Senate Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD) Appropriations subcommittees are charged with providing annual appropriations for the Department of Transportation (DOT), the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and certain related agencies.

Because final full-year FY2022 appropriations were not enacted before the start of the fiscal year on October 1, 2021, a series of continuing resolutions were enacted to maintain government operations. On March 9, 2022, the House, followed by the Senate the next day, passed H.R. 2471, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022; it was signed into law on March 15, 2022 (P.L. 117-103). Division L contains the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2022. In total, it provided $81 billion in discretionary funding for THUD agencies in FY2022, an increase of 8% over FY2021. It also made available $76 billion in mandatory funding for DOT, an increase of 24% over FY2021, for a total of $157 billion in nonemergency funding for THUD agencies. DOT received $102.9 billion (18.7% over FY2021), and HUD received $53.7 billion.

In addition, DOT received $39.5 billion in emergency budget authority for FY2022 from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA; P.L. 117-58) Division J supplemental, for a total net new budget authority of $142.5 billion for FY2022. That is down from $156.9 billion in new budget authority in FY2021, due to having received $70.2 billion in emergency funding in FY2021, mostly to help the aviation and transit sectors endure the economic impacts of the coronavirus epidemic.

This report describes action on FY2022 annual appropriations for THUD, including detailed tables for each major agency and a brief overview of selected issues.

FY2022 Budget Process

Appropriations for DOT, HUD, and the related agencies typically funded in the THUD bill happen in the context of the broader annual congressional appropriations process. That process generally begins with the submission of the President's budget request, followed by adoption of congressional spending limits (generally, in a budget resolution) that set the overall level of spending for that fiscal year's appropriations bills.

The President's budget request for the upcoming fiscal year is due to be submitted to Congress by the first Monday in February. However, the FY2022 budget submission occurred during a presidential transition year—from the presidency of Donald J. Trump to Joseph R. Biden on January 20, 2021. Recent Presidents have not submitted detailed budget proposals until April or May of their first year in office, although each has advised Congress regarding the general contours of their economic and budgetary policies in special messages submitted to Congress prior to that submission.¹ This delay allows time to prepare a proposal that reflects the priorities of the new administration. On April 9, 2021, President Biden submitted to Congress an outline of his discretionary funding priorities for FY2022.² This preliminary document provided early highlights for numerous policy areas. The full budget request was submitted on May 28, almost four months after its due date.³ As a result, the start of annual appropriations decision-making for FY2022 also was delayed to allow time for Congress to consider this request.

The framework for budget enforcement under the congressional budget process for the past decade has had both statutory and procedural elements. The statutory elements have included limits on discretionary spending established by the Budget Control Act of 2011, as amended (BCA; P.L. 112-25). However, those discretionary spending limits extended only through FY2021, meaning no statutory limits on discretionary spending are currently in place for FY2022.

The procedural elements of budget enforcement are primarily associated with the budget resolution. They limit both total discretionary spending available to the Appropriations committees (commonly referred to as "302(a) allocations") and spending under the jurisdiction of each appropriations subcommittee ("302(b) suballocations").

An FY2022 budget resolution was agreed to by the House and the Senate. S.Con.Res. 14 was adopted by the Senate on August 11, 2021, and by the House (without amendment) on August 24, 2021. To provide for 302(a) allocations associated with S.Con.Res. 14, Section 4006 of the budget resolution provided the Chair of the Senate Budget Committee the authority to enter into the Congressional Record allocations consistent with the levels in the budget resolution. Those levels were filed in the Senate on September 23, 2021.⁴ Section 4006 provided similar authority to the Chair of the House Budget Committee, and those allocations were filed on October 27, 2021.⁵ In addition, S.Con.Res. 14 allowed adjustments to those allocations for emergency requirements, and other purposes.

Earlier in 2021, the House provided for budget enforcement in the absence of a budget resolution prior to initial floor consideration of the FY2022 appropriations measures by adopting a deeming resolution, H.Res. 467, on June 14, 2021.⁶ This resolution provided for 302(a) allocations to the House Appropriations Committee at a specified level, provided limits on advance appropriations,⁷ and allowed adjustments to those allocations for emergency requirements and other purposes. Pursuant to this resolution, the Chair of the House Budget Committee, Representative Yarmuth, published in the Congressional Record the House Appropriations Committee allocations on June 24, 2021.⁸ The House Appropriations Committee reported initial 302(b) suballocations for all 12 subcommittees on July 1 (H.Rept. 117-78).⁹ Table 1 shows the suballocation to the THUD Subcommittee, compared to the comparable FY2021 enacted and President's budget figures.

FY2022 THUD Appropriations Process

Two factors made the FY2022 THUD appropriations process different than in most years. One was the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The FY2021 Consolidated Appropriations Act provided supplemental coronavirus relief funding, including $27 billion for DOT in FY2021. Additionally, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA; P.L. 117-2) appropriated $54 billion in mandatory COVID-19 relief and response via programs and activities typically funded in the THUD appropriations bill. These funds affected total spending on activities normally funded by the THUD appropriations bill, but were provided outside of the annual appropriations process, and thus are outside the scope of this report. (For more information on ARPA funding, see Appendix A-1 of CRS Report R46465, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD) Appropriations for FY2021.)

Second, the Biden Administration announced a proposed infrastructure investment package—referred to as the American Jobs Plan—that would have provided significant additional funding for housing and transportation programs and activities. A portion of that package was included in the IIJA, which was enacted on November 15, 2021; Division J of the act provided supplemental emergency appropriations for FY2022 for a number of agencies, including (in Title VIII) $36.8 billion for DOT. Other provisions from the American Jobs Plan were included in the Build Back Better Act, which proposes nearly $150 billion in additional mandatory funding for various HUD-administered housing programs and activities. The Build Back Better Act passed the House (H.R. 5376), but, as of the cover date of this report, had not been considered by the Senate.

These additional mandatory funds are outside of the regular annual appropriations process, and are thus not discussed in this report. (For more information about the American Jobs Plan, see https://www.whitehouse.gov/american-jobs-plan/.)

President's Budget

On May 28, 2021, the President's FY2022 budget request was released. It included an increase of 10% (+$7.5 billion) in discretionary funding for THUD agencies relative to FY2021, with HUD proposed to receive the vast majority of that increased funding (+$7.1 billion). (For more information about the President's budget request for HUD, see CRS Report R46849, Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD): FY2022 Budget Request Fact Sheet.)

House Action

The House Committee on Appropriations ordered reported its FY2022 THUD appropriations bill on July 16, 2021, following subcommittee markup on July 12. The bill was reported as H.R. 4550, accompanied by H.Rept. 117-99, on July 20. It included a larger increase in funding for THUD agencies than requested by the President (+$8.6 billion, +11.5% relative to FY2021).

The text of H.R. 4550, as reported, was included in an amended version of H.R. 4502 that combined several other appropriations acts for House floor consideration (THUD is Division G).¹⁰ A number of THUD-related amendments were approved before the bill was passed by the House on July 29, 2021.

Senate Action

Senator Leahy, Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, released a majority draft and accompanying draft report language for each of the FY2022 appropriations bills (including THUD) on October 18, 2021. According to the Chair, the purpose of this release was to further negotiations toward final enactment of FY2022 full-year appropriations.¹¹ On October 21, Senator Schatz, Chair of the Senate Appropriations THUD Subcommittee, introduced an FY2022 THUD bill (S. 3045).This bill, which appears identical to the Chair's draft, was referred to the Senate Appropriations Committee, but was never considered in committee.¹²

Continuing Resolutions

Because final FY2022 appropriations were not enacted before the start of the fiscal year on October 1, government spending, including for those agencies typically funded under the THUD appropriations bill, were continued under a series of continuing resolutions (CRs). The first CR was signed into law on September 30, 2021 (Division A of H.R. 5305; P.L. 117-43). It provided continuing appropriations for all 12 annual appropriations acts (including THUD) through December 3, 2021. Division B of the act provided supplemental disaster funding, including $2.7 billion for DOT and $5 billion for HUD Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery grants.

A second CR was enacted on December 3, 2021, extending the provisions of the first CR through February 18, 2022 (Division A of H.R. 6119; P.L. 117-70). A third CR, which modified and extended the previous CR through March 11, 2022, was signed into law on February 18, 2022 (P.L. 117-86). As Congress was considering final full year appropriations, it enacted a last CR (H.J.Res. 75; P.L. 117-95), which extended the prior CR through March 15.

Final Enacted Full-Year FY2022 Appropriations

The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022 (P.L. 117-103) was signed into law on March 15, 2022. It originated as a House amendment to the Senate amendment to H.R. 2471, a bill previously related to assistance efforts for Haiti. Specifically, on March 9, 2022, the House agreed to a special rule (H.Res. 973) that provided for the consideration of the House amendment to the Senate amendment, which consisted of all 12 regular appropriations acts for FY2022 (Divisions A-L; THUD as Division L), the Ukraine Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2022 (Division N), and several other matters (Divisions O-HH). Division L included $81 billion in discretionary funding for THUD agencies, an increase of 8% over the prior year. The legislation was approved by the House on March 9, 2022, and the Senate the following day, and signed into law March 15, 2022 (P.L. 117-103).

Table 2 tracks FY2022 THUD funding at the bill title level.

Department of Transportation

The majority of DOT's annual funding is established by two periodic authorization acts, one for surface transportation programs and one for aviation programs. Most of the funding for the programs in those acts is drawn from the DOT Highway Trust Fund and the Aviation and Airways Trust Fund, respectively. Highway Trust Fund revenues come largely from fuel taxes and increasingly from transfers from the general fund of the Treasury. Aviation and Airways Trust Fund revenues come largely from taxes on passenger tickets and aviation fuel and some general fund money.

The appearance of COVID-19 in the United States in the spring of 2020 disrupted the finances of airlines and transit agencies. Airline and transit patronage dropped to a fraction of its usual level, as did passenger fare revenues. This was due not only to the impact of the pandemic on the economy, but also to public concern about the risk of transmission of the virus in the confined spaces of airplanes and transit vehicles.

Administration Budget Request

The Administration's FY2022 budget requested nearly the same amount of funding (less than 1% increase) for DOT as it received through the FY2021 appropriations process. Within that nearly level funding, the notable variations in funding requested compared to FY2021 appropriations include

• Federal Highway Administration: a 4% (+$2 billion) decrease in discretionary funding;
• Federal Railroad Administration: a 72% (+$418 million) increase in funding for rail grants programs, including a new Passenger Rail Improvement, Modernization, and Expansion (PRIME) program;
• Amtrak: a 35% (+$700 million) increase in funding for grants to Amtrak; and
• Federal Transit Administration: a 23% (+$460 million) increase in funding for capital investment grants (including New Starts and Small Starts projects).

Agency Funding

The House Appropriations Committee recommended $105.7 billion for DOT, a 22% (+$19 billion) increase over the FY2021 enacted amount of $86.709 billion (which was virtually the same as the FY2020 enacted amount). Every agency within the department was to receive an increase compared with FY2021. The Senate Appropriations Committee Chair's draft proposed a 4.3% ($3.7 billion) increase over FY2021. The final bill provided a 19% ($16 billion) increase over FY2021, more than the request or Senate proposal, but less than recommended by the House. Details can be found in Table 3.

Selected DOT Issues

Authorization of Surface Transportation Programs

Funding authorizations for the federal highway, transit, and passenger rail programs¹³ were scheduled to expire at the end of FY2020, and were extended at the FY2020 levels through FY2021, then through FY2022. The Administration requested funding for FY2022 based on those levels. The House Committee on Appropriations recommended increased funding based on levels proposed in pending surface transportation reauthorization legislation, the INVEST in America Act (H.R. 3684, passed by the House on July 1, 2021). The House had recommended similar levels of funding for surface transportation programs in FY2021 based on reauthorization legislation introduced in the 116^th Congress; that reauthorization legislation was not enacted, and the final FY2021 funding levels for surface transportation programs were in line with those in FY2020.

The Senate passed its version of H.R. 3684, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), commonly referred to as the "bipartisan infrastructure bill" (and, after enactment, the "bipartisan infrastructure law" or BIL) on August 10, 2021, as Senate Amendment 2137. Divisions A-C of the bill contained the text of surface transportation reauthorization legislation that differed from that passed by the House. Title VIII of Division J of the bill provided supplemental appropriations for many DOT programs. In the House, passage of the Senate version of the bill was for a time made contingent on Senate passage of a budget reconciliation bill still in process that would provide significant funding for social programs, but on November 5, 2021, the House passed the Senate version of H.R. 3684, and it was signed into law on November 15, 2021 (P.L. 117-58).

The supplemental appropriations provided for several DOT programs in Title VIII of Division J that were appropriated in FY2022 but were divided into portions made available over the authorization period for DOT programs in Divisions A-C (FY2022-FY2026). The total amount provided in Title VIII of Division J was $184.1 billion, apportioned at $36.8 billion for each of FY2022-FY2026. That $36.8 billion in supplemental funding represented slightly over one-third of the total amount provided for DOT in the THUD FY2022 appropriations act. Table 4 shows the distribution of the supplemental funding that is available to DOT during FY2022.

The RAISE Multi-modal Grant Program

Most DOT funding is provided by mode. The vast majority goes to programs focused on highways, with lesser amounts dedicated to the aviation, transit, rail, and maritime sectors. One of the few grant programs for which project eligibility is not limited to a single mode is the national infrastructure investment program, popularly known as the RAISE discretionary grant program (previously called TIGER and then BUILD).¹⁴ This program is popular in part because it is one of the few transportation grant programs that offer communities an opportunity to obtain federal funding directly for local projects without state government involvement, and in part because virtually any transportation project eligible for federal funding is eligible for a grant under this program. The House committee bill would have increased funding for the program by 20%, from $1.0 billion in FY2021 to $1.2 billion in FY2022, including $40 million for planning grants. The House Appropriations Committee commended DOT for revising the selection criteria for the FY2021 round of grants to include climate change, environmental justice, and racial equity considerations, and included in its recommendations a direction to prioritize projects that improve race and social equity and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the distribution of funds in FY2022. The Senate draft committee bill would have increased funding for the RAISE discretionary grant program by 9%, from $1.00 billion in FY2021 to $1.09 billion in FY2022.

Separately, the IIJA provided supplemental funding of $1.5 billion for RAISE grants in FY2022, and DOT issued a grant solicitation for that funding on January 28, 2022.¹⁵ The final THUD bill provided an additional $775 million for the RAISE grant program; DOT issued a revised grant solicitation reflecting the new total of $2.275 billion.

Highway Safety

The House-passed bill recommended an increase of 37% ($232 million) in NHTSA highway safety grants to states, divided between formula safety grants and national priority safety incentive grant programs. This increased funding was to be drawn from the Highway Trust Fund, and is thus dependent on enactment of surface transportation reauthorization legislation as noted above. The Senate draft committee bill recommended no increase. The final bill provided an increase of 24% ($151 million) over the FY2021 level.

Passenger Rail

The House-passed bill recommended an increase of 46% ($1.3 billion) in funding for passenger rail. This was to provide $2.7 billion for Amtrak and $1.1 billion for grants to states and other entities for improvements in passenger rail service. This funding is not drawn from the Highway Trust Fund. The Senate draft committee bill recommended an increase of 32%, mostly for additional Amtrak funding. The final bill provided an increase of 19% ($481 million) over the comparable FY2021 level, a total of $3.1 billion. Division J of the IIJA provided an additional $12.6 billion for FY2022.

Commercial Truck Safety

The congressional mandate¹⁶ for heavy trucks to be equipped with electronic logging devices (ELDs) to track the time worked by drivers went into effect at the end of 2017.¹⁷ The purpose was to improve safety by reducing the incidence of commercial drivers driving while fatigued; this would be achieved by improving compliance with (and enforcement of) the federal hours-of-service limits that limit the amount of time a driver can drive each day and each week. ELDs make it harder for drivers to exceed the limits without detection. Objections from certain sectors of the trucking industry have led Congress to repeatedly bar enforcement of the ELD mandate with respect to livestock haulers in the annual THUD appropriations act. This action has been opposed by safety advocates. The FY2021 House version of the THUD bill did not include this waiver, though the enacted FY2021 THUD act did; the waiver was added to the FY2022 THUD bill by amendment in the House Appropriations Committee markup of the bill, was included in the draft Senate committee bill, and was included in the enacted bill (§132).

Department of Housing and Urban Development

Overview

HUD is the nation's housing agency. The programs and activities it administers are designed primarily to address housing problems faced by households with very low incomes or other special housing needs and to expand access to homeownership.¹⁸ The largest share of HUD's budget is devoted to its rental assistance programs: Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers; project-based rental assistance via Section 8, Section 202 and Section 811; and public housing. These programs, which serve nearly 4.6 million households, provide subsidies to allow low-income recipients to pay below-market, income-based rent.

Two flexible block grant programs—the HOME Investment Partnerships grant program and the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program—help states and local governments finance a variety of housing and community development activities designed to serve low-income families. Native American tribes receive their own direct housing grants through the Native American Housing Block Grant program.

Other more specialized grant programs help communities meet the needs of homeless persons (through the Homeless Assistance Grants, namely the Continuum of Care and Emergency Solutions Grants programs), including those living with HIV/AIDS (through the Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS program). Additional programs fund fair housing enforcement activities and healthy homes activities, including lead-based paint hazard identification and remediation.

HUD's Federal Housing Administration (FHA) insures mortgages made by lenders to homebuyers with low down payments and to developers of multifamily rental buildings containing relatively affordable units. FHA collects fees from borrowers with FHA-insured mortgages, which are used to sustain its insurance funds.

Agency Funding

Nearly all of HUD's funding is provided via discretionary appropriations generally contained in the annual Transportation, HUD, and Related Agencies appropriations legislation. (HUD programs may also receive additional resources from supplemental or other funding measures in some years, most often in response to disasters.) The annual THUD bill provides gross appropriations for HUD programs and activities for a fiscal year. The "cost" of those appropriations, as determined by the Congressional Budget Office's scorekeeping process, is generally reduced by offsetting receipts from the FHA's loan programs and the Government National Mortgage Association (GNMA) securitization of government loans. To a lesser extent, rescissions of prior-year appropriations can also create savings. The gross appropriations provided to HUD, minus savings from offsets and rescissions, is the net budget authority total, which is used for budget enforcement purposes.

Status of FY2022 HUD Appropriations

As shown in Table 5, the President's FY2022 budget request proposed an increase of $8.3 billion (+13.8%) in gross (regular, nonemergency) appropriations for HUD programs and activities relative to FY2021. (Because of an estimated increase in offsets in FY2022, net discretionary budget authority—used for budget enforcement purposes—would see a smaller total increase (+$7.1 billion) than gross budget authority. However, gross appropriations is a more accurate measure of the resources available to HUD's programs and activities.) Most of the requested increase ($6.1 billion) is directed to HUD's primary rental assistance programs, which, combined, serve nearly 4.6 million low-income households. However, nearly all HUD programs are proposed for increases, including HUD grant programs that had been targeted for elimination in budget requests from the Trump Administration.

The House bill proposed increasing gross appropriations for HUD relative to FY2021, but slightly less than was requested by the President (a difference of $250 million, or less than 1%). The Senate Appropriations Committee Chair's draft proposed providing HUD with an increase over FY2021 (+8.4%) but less than requested by the President or proposed by the House. The final FY2022 appropriations law included $65.7 billion in gross appropriations for HUD, an increase of 9% over FY2021, but less than was requested by the President's budget. Accounting for offsets, HUD's net discretionary total for FY2022 is nearly $53.7 billion.

Selected FY2022 HUD Appropriations Issues

Rental Assistance Funding

Through various programs utilizing different mechanisms, the federal government subsidizes the rents of nearly 4.6 million low-income households, allowing them to pay affordable, below-market rents, generally set at 30% of a family's income. The vast majority of HUD funding each year is devoted to maintaining these rental assistance programs, which include (from largest to smallest in terms of households served in FY2020):

• Housing Choice Vouchers (2.3 million households (HHs));
• Section 8 project-based rental assistance (1.2 million HHs);
• public housing (880,000 HHs);
• Section 202 Housing for the Elderly (124,000 HHs); and
• Section 811 Housing for Persons with Disabilities (32,000 HHs).¹⁹

Funding for these rental assistance programs accounts for roughly 80% of HUD's total (gross) appropriations, most of which is used to maintain assistance for currently assisted families.

Although it is estimated that roughly one in four eligible households receives rental assistance, leading to waiting lists for assistance in most communities, expansions of these programs to serve new families have been limited. For many years, new Housing Choice Vouchers (referred to as incremental vouchers) have been funded only for homeless veterans, via the Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (VASH) program, and for child welfare-involved families and former foster youth, via the Family Unification Program (FUP). While some funding for new Section 202 and Section 811 units has been provided, HUD has no funding or authority to expand the public housing or Section 8 project-based rental assistance programs. One challenge with expanding rental assistance programs has been the need for funding to renew newly created subsidies in subsequent years. In light of caps on domestic discretionary spending, growing renewal costs can lead to difficult trade-offs in the appropriations process.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, some of the largest expansions in rental assistance in recent years were funded in FY2021, with mandatory ARPA funding for 70,000 new (albeit temporary) vouchers in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as additional discretionary funding of $43 million in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, for new incremental vouchers for persons who are homeless or at-risk of homelessness.

For FY2022, the President's budget proposed directing $6.1 billion of the total $7.5 billion in increased funding requested over FY2021 to rental assistance programs. In addition to maintaining assistance to the 4.6 million currently assisted households, part of this increase is intended to fund expansions in rental assistance.

Housing Choice Vouchers

The President's budget request included $1.5 billion in the tenant-based rental assistance account for new incremental Housing Choice Vouchers. Budget documents stated this would allow the program to serve an additional 200,000 families, the largest increase since the program was authorized.

The request also included an increase in administrative fee funding ($2.8 billion, or +29% over FY2021) and a new set-aside to fund mobility services to help families relocate to areas of opportunity ($491 million).

The House bill proposed just over $1 billion for new incremental vouchers, which H.Rept. 117-99 estimated would serve 125,000 additional families. While lower than the President's request, this expansion would still be the largest since the program's inception. Additionally, while the President's budget included no funding for new VASH or FUP vouchers, the House bill included $20 million for VASH and $25 million for FUP. The House bill proposed increased funding for administrative fees above the FY2021 level (+14%), but not as high as requested, and proposed to fund the new mobility services set-aside, but at a reduced level ($150 million). The Senate Committee Chair's draft included increased funding for VASH and FUP relative to FY2021 and the House bill, but less for other new incremental vouchers ($75 million, for families with young children to move to low-poverty neighborhoods). The final FY2022 appropriations law matched the Senate draft funding levels for FUP and VASH and included $200 million for other incremental vouchers.

Section 202 and Section 811

The President's budget also proposed funding increases for the Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly and Section 811 Supportive Housing for Persons with Disabilities programs (+$73 million and +$45 million over FY2021, respectively). The President's budget documents noted the funding levels requested would be sufficient to create approximately 2,000 new units—1,100 for Section 202 and 900 for Section 811.

The House bill proposed more than the requested amount for each program (+$178 million for Section 202 and +$125 million for Section 811 relative to FY2021). H.Rept. 117-99 noted that the amounts provided would be sufficient to fund more than double the President's requested units (2,250 new units for Section 202; 1,800 new units for Section 811). The Senate Committee Chair's draft proposed level funding for Section 811 relative to FY2021; an increase above the President's request for Section 202, but less than the House bill ($956 million). The final FY2022 appropriations law funded these programs at the House-passed level.

Public Housing

The President's budget request for public housing was estimated to cover the full cost of public housing operating expenses under the operating fund formula, and the amount requested for capital grants was intended to be sufficient to meet the full estimated annual capital accrual needs in public housing (although not sufficient to address the backlog of capital needs in public housing, estimated to be as much as $70 billion). The request also included requests for new funding for various energy efficiency, water efficiency, utility consumption reduction, and climate resiliency incentives/grants.

The House bill proposed to exceed the President's requested funding level for public housing both in terms of operating and capital funding; the Senate Committee Chair's draft proposed a larger increase in funding for public housing than the House bill. The final FY2022 funding law met or exceeded the President's request for operating and capital funding for public housing, but did not include any of the add-on grants/incentives the President's budget had requested.

Formula Grants

HUD's budget includes funding for a number of formula grants to states, municipalities, and tribes for a range of housing and community development purposes. These include the CDBG programs, which can be used by states and localities for a wide range of community development purposes; the HOME program, which can be used by states and localities for various affordable housing purposes; and the Native American Housing Block Grant (NAHBG) to tribes for affordable housing.

The President's budget request included funding increases relative to FY2021 for each of these programs. Specifically, it proposed to increase CDBG formula grants by $295 million (+8.6%);²⁰ HOME formula grants by $400 million (+30%); and NAHBG formula grants by $76 million (+11.7%).

The House bill also included increases for each of these formula grants relative to FY2021. It proposed increasing CDBG formula grants relative to FY2021 by somewhat less than the President's request (+$289 million, or +8.4%),²¹ HOME formula grants relative to FY2021 by more than the President's request (+$450 million, or +33%), and NAHBG formula grants relative to FY2021 by slightly less than the request (+$75 million, or +11.6%). The Senate Committee Chair's draft proposed funding above the President's request for NAHBG formula grants but below the President's requested level for CDBG and HOME formula grants (though an increase over FY2021). The final FY2022 appropriations law cut funding for CDBG formula grants (-4%), but increased funding for HOME formula grants (+11%) and NAHBG formula grants relative to FY2021 (+19%).

Additionally, for the HOME program, the President's budget requested $100 million for a new down payment assistance grant program; the House bill proposed $50 million for this purpose. The Senate Committee Chair's draft did not include funding for this down payment initiative, and it was not funded in the final FY2022 law.

Homelessness

In addition to the broader-purpose formula grants previously mentioned, HUD's budget includes funding for formula and competitive grants specifically to address homelessness through two accounts: the Homelessness Assistance Grants account, which funds the Continuum of Care program and the Emergency Shelter Grants, and the Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) program.

For FY2022, the President's budget requested funding increases relative to FY2021 for both Homeless Assistance Grants (+$500 million, or +17%) and HOPWA (+$20 million, or +5%). The House bill proposed a smaller increase relative to FY2021 than requested for the Homeless Assistance Grants (+$420 million, or +14%), but a larger increase relative to FY2021 than requested for HOPWA (+$170 million or +40%). The committee report noted that its recommended HOPWA funding increase is designed to allow HUD to hold harmless communities that might otherwise receive a decrease as the agency implements an updated HOPWA formula in FY2022. The Senate Committee Chair's draft included increased funding for Homeless Assistance Grants relative to FY2021, but less than the request; it proposed to match the request for HOPWA. The final FY2022 appropriations law included an increase for the Homeless Assistance Grants relative to FY2021, but less than was requested or proposed by the House or Senate draft bills. It met the President's request for HOPWA.

Climate Initiative

The Administration attributes $800 million of the $7.1 billion in increased funding it requested for HUD relative to FY2021 to a new climate initiative. The department's budget documents state that the funding will be used for "targeted investments to improve the quality of housing through climate resilience and energy efficiency."²²

The $800 million is composed of a request for $250 million for a new energy and green retrofit grant program for multifamily housing funded in a new account, as well as set-asides for new or expanded initiatives in a number of existing accounts.

As shown in Table 6, the House bill proposed to partially fund two of the elements of the climate initiative proposed by the President; the Senate Committee Chair's draft contained no funding for any of these initiatives. The proposals were not funded in the final FY2022 appropriations law.

THUD Related Agencies

As shown in Table 7, most of the related agencies funded in the THUD bill would have received level or slightly increased funding relative to the prior year under the President's FY2022 budget request, and these requests were supported by the House. The notable exception is the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation, for which a 3% ($5 million) increase was requested, and for which the House recommended a 12% ($20 million) increase over FY2021. The Senate Committee Chair's draft proposed providing the same amount as requested overall, although with funds distributed somewhat differently across the related agencies. The final FY2022 appropriations law included $398 million for related agencies, nearly the same as the President requested.

Selected Related Agencies Issues

NeighborWorks America

The Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation (commonly known as NeighborWorks America) was created via federal charter in 1978 to support affordable housing and neighborhood revitalization nationwide through a network of affiliated local organizations. From FY2018-FY2021, the Trump Administration's budget requests to Congress requested only enough funding for NeighborWorks to allow the organization to wind down existing commitments until it ceased operations. Despite these proposals, Congress continued to fund the organization in the annual appropriations acts. The first budget request of the Biden Administration requested a $5 million increase over the FY2021 enacted level for NeighborWorks. The House bill included a larger increase ($20 million), and designated $25 million of the total funding for a competitive grant program to fund revitalization in areas with concentrations of abandoned or distressed properties.²³ The Senate Committee Chair's draft proposed an increase over FY2021 (+$1 million), but less than requested or proposed by the House. The final FY2022 appropriations law adopted the Senate draft level.