congress advances historic housing legislation and passes appropriations package

Housing for the 21st Century Act Passes the House

On Monday, February 9, the House of Representatives passed comprehensive housing legislation—the Housing for the 21st Century Act—by an overwhelming and bipartisan 390-9 vote. The bill contains several priorities from CHFA’s national trade association, the National Council for State Housing Agencies (NCSHA), to reform and streamline critical affordable housing programs.

Among other provisions, the bill raises the public welfare investment cap for banks to support a robust investor market for federal Housing Tax Credits and housing bonds and strengthens the HOME Investment Partnerships Program.

Additional priorities contained in the bill and in the Senate’s comprehensive housing legislation, the ROAD to Housing Act, may be found at this link.

The Senate is expected to consider its ROAD to Housing Act in the coming weeks.

Appropriations Package Signed into Law

On February 3, Congress passed and President Trump signed an appropriations package that includes Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD) funding for FY26 after a brief partial government shutdown. As signed into law, the legislation provides an increase over the FY25 enacted levels for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

In addition to FY26 funding, the bill also contains language requiring HUD to renew expiring Continuum of Care grants for supportive housing projects with a timeline for renewal of all grants if a new Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) is not issued.

The chart below details funding levels for programs as enacted in comparison with the previous fiscal year’s funding levels and the proposed funding levels from the President’s Budget Request and the House and Senate Appropriations Committees proposals.

Program Name	Final FY26 Consolidated Appropriations Act	FY25 Full Year Continuing Resolution	FY26 President’s Budget Request	FY26 House Committee Proposal	FY26 Senate Committee Proposal
Community Development Block Grant (CDBG)	$3.3B	$3.3B	$0	$3.3B	$3.1B
HOME Investment Partnerships Program	$1.3B	$1.3B	$0	$0	$1.3B
Homeless Assistance Grants	$4.4B	$4.1B	$4B	$4.2B	$4.5B
Housing Counseling Assistance	$57.5M	$57.5M	$0	$0	$57.5M
Section 8 Project-based Rental Assistance	$18.5B	$16.9B	$0*	$17.1B	$17.4B
Section 8 Tenant-based Rental Assistance	$38.4B	$36B	$0*	$35.3B	$37.4B

*proposed to be consolidated with other housing assistance programs under a new state block grant program funded at $26.7 billion.

If you have any questions, please reach out to Jerilynn Francis, Chief Communications and Community Partnerships Officer, or Julia Selby, Legislative Liaison and Policy Analyst.