Recent
Announcements

Appropriations for Fiscal Year 2008

2008 Omnibus Appropriations Bill (UPDATED Jan. 22, 2008)
Continuing Resolutions (UPDATED Dec. 20, 2007)
USDA (UPDATED Dec. 17, 2007)
HUD (UPDATED Dec. 17, 2007)    

Click here for information on the Administration's budget proposal for FY 2009.
Click here for more details on the Administration's budget proposal for FY 2008.
All bills and accompanying reports related to FY 2008 appropriations are available at http://thomas.loc.gov/home/approp/app08.html.

Congress imposes conditions on RD office closings (reprinted from HAC News, 1/16/08). The omnibus appropriations act for FY 2008 prohibits closing RD offices until the impact on cost and program delivery is determined, and requires reporting the justification for any closure or relocation to Congress at least 60 days in advance. (See HAC News, 7/3/07, reporting the possibility of some office closures.) Visit http://thomas.loc.gov/home/approp/app08.html to access the omnibus act; a joint statement by the appropriations committees expressing concern about office closures was printed in the December 17, 2007 Congressional Record, pp. H15761-62.

Farmworker housing added to rental preservation program for FY 2008 (reprinted from HAC News, 1/16/08). The FY 2008 omnibus appropriations act makes Section 514/516 properties eligible for RD’s Multi-Family Housing Preservation and Revitalization Restructuring Program. In FY 2006 and 2007, RD has offered these “MPR” funds through a NOFA published in the spring. The omnibus act is available at http://thomas.loc.gov/home/approp/app08.html.

President signs omnibus appropriation for 2008. On December 26, President Bush signed the omnibus spending bill for 2008. This means USDA and HUD housing programs will be funded through September 30, 2008 at the amounts shown in the last columns in the tables below.

Dec. 20: After votes on December 17, 18, and 19, the House of Representatives and the Senate had passed an omnibus appropriations bill that would fund most of the federal government, including USDA and HUD, for fiscal 2008. The two houses initially adopted different dollar figures for war funding, but came to an agreement by the end of the day on December 19 and sent the omnibus bill to President Bush for signature.

The omnibus bill cuts some programs, but protects most, in order to reach a total budget ceiling sought by President Bush. The omnibus is H.R. 2764 and is technically a very large amendment to the House Foreign Operations spending bill for 2008. The bill groups together 11 appropriations bills for the 2008 fiscal year that began on October 1. The White House had been threatening a veto of any bill that exceeds the President's budget request for 2008. The text of the bill is available at http://www.rules.house.gov/110_fy08_omni.htm.

Continuing Resolutions. On December 19, the House and Senate both passed a Fourth Continuing Resolution that would extend funding at FY 2007 levels from December 21, when the Third CR expires, to December 31.

Nov. 14, 2007 -- On November 13, 2007, President Bush signed into law the second Continuing Resolution passed by Congress for fiscal year 2008, which began on October 1, 2007. This new stopgap measure funds the government through December 14, keeping most programs at FY 2007 levels. It does provide $3 million in new Community Development Block Grant funds for Louisiana's Road Home program for survivors of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Sept. 14, 2007 -- With the 2008 fiscal year beginning on Oct. 1, USDA, HUD and all other federal programs are operating under a continuing resolution through Nov. 16. President Bush signed the CR on Sept. 29. Congress has yet to complete and send to the President any of the 12 appropriations bills. The White House has threatened a veto of any bill that exceeds the President's budget request for 2008. It is unclear whether Congress may send separate spending bills, a large omnibus package, or some combination of both approaches. Final negotiations will likely go beyond Nov. 16.

USDA. In the near-final omnibus bill, some USDA rural housing programs are cut while others are at higher levels than in 2007. Sec. 502 guaranteed loans would rise sharply to $4.22 billion, with Congress urging this program’s use as an alternative to subprime mortgages. Sec. 523 self-help housing would increase to $39 million. But Sec. 515 rental loans, rental assistance and farm labor housing loans and grants would be cut.  Like the House and Senate bills passed earlier this year, the omnibus bill rejects the very deep budget cuts for rural housing programs that were proposed in the Administration’s 2008 budget. That February 2007 proposal had called for the elimination of Section 502 and 515 direct loans and a drastic cut in self-help housing.

The table below has details.        

a. Figures shown for FY 2006 are before 1% across the board cut.
b. Rental Assistance contracts were for four years in FY 2006 and for two years in FY 2007. The FY 2008 bill provides one-year contracts

HUD. Also part of the omnibus is the 2008 Transportation-HUD appropriations bill. It cuts Community Development Block Grants, HOME and Section 8 vouchers below the levels in both House and Senate spending bills passed earlier this year.  Most other HUD programs retained the funding levels of 2007 or the increases won in Congress earlier this year for 2008.  The HUD rural housing program would receive $17 million, the same as in 2007.  The SHOP program would rise from 19.8 million in 2007 to $26.5 million in 2008.  

a. Figures shown for FY 2006 and 2007 are before 1% across the board cut.
b. $200 million in counseling and foreclosure prevention activities is provided to the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation.
c. Housing counseling funding is under the HOME program.
d. Foreclosure prevention activities moved to appropriation for Neighborhood Reinvestment (not in HUD).

Updated: Jan. 22, 2008

If you have problems accessing any of the material on this page, contact Leslie Strauss at HAC, leslie@ruralhome.org, 202-842-8600.