Statement from NLIHC President Sheila Crowley on the Obama Administration’s FY10 housing budgetMortgagePress.comObama Administration, National Low Income Housing Coalition, Sheila Crowley, Department of Housing and Urban Development, National Housing Trust Fund
The Obama Administration released its budget blueprint for
fiscal year 2010. This budget signals a refreshing and much-needed
change of direction for the countrys housing policy, and offers
hope for the millions of low income families who struggle to find
decent homes they can afford.
The budget request would increase funding for the Department of
Housing and Urban Development to $47.5 billion, from the $41.5
billion in the House-passed FY09 omnibus spending bill. Given the
housing crisis facing our nation's families, this increase to
critical housing programs could not come at a more important
time.
NLIHC is especially pleased by inclusion in the budget of
inaugural funding for the National Housing Trust Fund. The National
Housing Trust Fund, signed into law as part of the Housing and
Economic Recovery Act of 2008, will provide communities with funds
to build, rehabilitate and preserve housing for people with the
lowest incomes, and will be the first new federal housing
production program to serve extremely low income families since
1974. The $1 billion in dedicated funding included in the
Administrations budget request for the National Housing Trust Fund
represents an important downpayment to a renewed national
commitment to housing for all.
President Obama has been a strong supporter of a National
Housing Trust Fund during his tenure in the Senate and throughout
his campaign. We appreciate that this support is reflected in his
administration's first budget proposal.
For more information, visit www.nlihc.org.
