Looking Ahead to a New Administration and Congress
The former president and now president-elect Trump will return to the White House in 2025. Trump flipped Wisconsin, Michigan, Georgia, and Pennsylvania, which voted for Biden in 2020. The GOP also won control of the Senate. Republicans currently have a net gain of at least three seats in the Senate with four races uncalled in Nevada, Arizona, Pennsylvania, and Maine. The fight for the House goes on as many House races have yet to be called but it is trending towards Republican control.
The Senate Appropriations Committee will be chaired by Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), an advocate for CDBG and other HUD programs. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS) will chair the Senate Transportation-HUD subcommittee. Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) is in line to take over as chair of the Senate Banking Committee, but he is also being considered for the role as HUD Secretary. Scott has expressed interest in legislation to improve housing affordability by reducing regulations.
The incoming Trump administration is short on details about what housing and community development policies they will pursue over the next four years, but the Republican National Committee campaign platform lists the following items.
- Reduce mortgage rates by cutting inflation.
- Cut unnecessary regulations that raise housing costs.
- Cut federal funding for sanctuary cities (cities and counties that provide sanctuary to illegal immigrants).
- Promote homeownership through tax incentives and support for first-time homebuyers.
- Open some federal land for new home construction.
If his past policies are any indication of his future agenda, HUD programs will suffer. In each of his four budgets in his first term as president, Trump proposed huge cuts to federal affordable housing programs and total elimination of the CDBG and HOME programs. After a massive advocacy campaign on the part of NCDA, the CDBG Coalition, and the HOME Coalition, Congress kept the programs intact.
Trump also proposed the repeal of the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit which would have discouraged investment in affordable housing, but Congress intervened to keep the housing credit intact.
Trump terminated the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule in his first term which President Biden reinstated to some degree. Trump will put an end to the rule in his second term.
In his first term, his administration raised rents on people living in HUD-assisted housing by increasing the amount they pay towards rent from 30% to 35%.
Also worrisome is Trump’s goal to purge federal departments by making it easier to fire federal workers by classifying thousands of them as being outside civil service protection. In his first Administration, many HUD employees exited or retired early leaving a void in institutional knowledge and capacity to run many federal departments.
NCDA will work with Congressional champions and mobilize members to overcome any future budgets and policies that de-fund or undermine our core programs.
FY25 Appropriations Update
Congress returns on November 12 to focus on appropriations, disaster relief, and leadership elections. The current continuing resolution (CR) expires on December 20. Congress needs to enact FY25 appropriations bills or pass another CR beyond December 20. Republicans would like to extend the CR through February or March of next year while Democrats would like to wrap up FY25 spending. It’s unknown at this point which direction Congress will take.
Congress will also focus on enacting supplemental disaster appropriations to provide relief to those areas hit by hurricanes Helene and Milton.
In Case You Missed It – CDBG Honored on the House Floor
As you know, 2024 marks an important milestone – the 50th anniversary – for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program. Authorized under Title I of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 by President Ford, the CDBG program consolidated eight categorical programs into a single block grant that provided permanent formula-allocated funding to localities.
While it doesn’t often make national headlines, the CDBG program has undoubtedly been one of the most impactful resources for state and local governments. Since FY2005, it has contributed to infrastructure developments benefiting over 57 million people, funded public service activities assisting more than 189 million people, and helped meet housing needs for nearly 2 million households.
Representative Emanuel Cleaver II (D-MO-5) commemorated the program’s half-century of “tremendous contributions to the viability of American communities” on the House floor. You can listen to those remarks here.
If you attended the CDBG 50th anniversary webinar on August 22, 2024, you heard from program stakeholders about the impact of the program and the need for more funding.
NCDA thanks you for your continued support of and advocacy for the CDBG program. In the weeks and months ahead, as a new Administration and Congress take shape and work begins on the FY26 federal budget and federal agency funding, your grassroots advocacy will be needed more than ever to educate new leadership and Congressional members on the positive change CDBG has made in their areas. You can build relationships with your Congressional offices in many ways, including the following.
- Coordinating in-person meetings in their district offices
- Meeting with them in their DC offices.
- Sending invitations to tour or speak at project sites.
The 2025 NCDA Winter Conference, February 4-7, in Washington, DC and National Community Development Week, April 21-25 provide opportunities for you to meet directly with your Congressional offices to relay the impact of the CDBG program, the HOME Program, and other CPD programs and to tell them what more resources would mean for their communities and constituents.
NCDA is working on an advocacy guide and congressional talking points and will share those with you very soon.
Join us at the 2025 NCDA Legislative, Policy, and Professional Development Conference
The 56th NCDA Legislative, Policy, and Professional Development Conference will be held in Washington, DC February 4-7. Free pre-conference training on IDIS, CDBG, HOME, and the Consolidated Plan will be offered on February 4.
The conference offers community development and housing professionals a platform to hear directly from federal agency representatives, meet with Congressional offices to discuss important legislative issues, and network with peers. Sessions cover HUD CPD program areas, legislative and regulatory updates, and best practices to program administration challenges. The updated draft agenda is available here.
The conference will be held at the Hilton Wharf, located at 480 L’Enfant Plaza, Washington, DC. The hotel rate is $249 plus tax. The hotel booking link is available to you once you complete the conference registration.
Help NCDA craft the final agenda by offering your insight on topics for the roundtable discussions. Please contact Vicki Watson at vwatson@ncdaonline.org if you would like to participate in a session as a speaker (moderators are also needed for some of the sessions) and if you would like to suggest and lead a roundtable discussion topic or session.
NCDA Audrey Nelson Community Development Achievement Award – Applications Dues December 6
We invite you to apply for the 2025 Audrey Nelson Community Development Achievement Award. NCDA established the award in 1987 to recognize exemplary uses of CDBG program funds in low-income communities. The award has expanded to also recognize exemplary uses of HOME program funds.
The award is named in honor of Audrey Nelson, the first Deputy Secretary of NCDA. Audrey grew up in an inner-city Chicago neighborhood which became a target area for the Model Cities Program, the precursor to the CDBG program. Her intense commitment to her neighborhood, her local program efforts, and her drive to serve low-income people was cut short by cancer at the age of 29.
We are proud to continue these awards to honor Audrey’s legacy and to honor others, like Audrey, who exemplify outstanding achievement in service to low-income persons and neighborhoods through exemplary CDBG and HOME funded projects.
The application deadline is December 6. Please contact Vicki Watson, vwatson@ncdaonline.org with any questions.
NCDA Training
HOME Basic Course
January 7 – January 30, 2025
Tuesday and Thursday
2:00-4:30 pm EST
$375/NCDA members
Click here to register!
This course will provide a basic, but comprehensive overview of the HOME Investment Partnerships (HOME) program. The course will include information on program fundamentals, eligible and prohibited activities, eligible costs, CHDOs, match requirements, project requirements, program administration, and other program information. This course is a must for new HOME administrators and for administrators who need a refresh of the program!
2026 NCDA Annual Conference RFP – Proposals Due by November 29
NCDA is soliciting proposals from members to host the 2026 annual conference. The annual conference provides a forum in which participants can learn about community development, affordable housing, and economic development best practices and issues of importance to local grantees. It also provides a venue for networking with other community development professionals, meeting with vendors who provide services and products to local governments, interacting with senior federal officials and national speakers, and allows for the exchange of program and policy ideas.
Typically, the annual conference attracts over 325 community development professionals from across the country. The deadline to submit your proposal is November 29, 2024. Please contact Vicki Watson, vwatson@ncdaonline.org, with any questions.
