	Introduction to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)

Most of the funding for the activities of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) comes from discretionary appropriations provided each year in the annual appropriations acts enacted by Congress. Surplus FHA funds have been used to offset the cost of the HUD budget. As a result, part of the increase in net non-emergency budget authority from FY2002-FY2010 is attributable to decreases in the amount available in offsetting receipts and collections and the amount of rescissions taken. As shown in Table 2 , for FY2011 the President's budget requested about $45.6 billion in net new budget authority for HUD, a decrease of about 1% from the FY2010 enacted level. However, the requested decrease in net new budget authority would actually represent a 3% increase in appropriations for HUD programs in aggregate. The President's budget proposed to more than offset the overall increase in appropriations with a substantial increase in offsetting collections and receipts, which are estimated to come from proposed changes to the FHA mortgage insurance programs (see " The Federal Housing Administration Reforms and Funding Levels " later in this report). The President's budget requested the largest funding increases for the two Section 8 programs, followed by programs for the homeless and for HUD's research and technology needs. Senate Action

As shown in Table 2 , like the House bill, the FY2011 HUD funding bill approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee on July 23, 2010 ( S. 3644 ), would have provided about $1 billion more for HUD than requested by the President. The Senate bill also would have rejected the President's proposed cuts to housing programs for persons who are elderly and persons with disabilities, public housing capital funding, and the brownfields program, and would have provided funding for the President's Transforming Rental Assistance initiative. Continuing Resolutions

Because no FY2011 appropriations legislation was enacted before the beginning of the fiscal year (October 1, 2010), the 111 th Congress enacted a series of continuing resolutions (CRs) that continue funding at the FY2010 level for most accounts in the federal budget (including all of the accounts in HUD's budget). to H.R. Actions in 112th Congress

			H.R. 1

On February 18, 2011, the House approved a year-long continuing resolution to fund the federal government through the end of FY2011. On March 9, 2011, the Senate considered, but failed to pass, both H.R. 1 would have increased funding for HUD, compared to H.R. A final short-term CR, P.L. 112-10

On April 15, 2011, the Department of Defense and Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act of 2011 was signed into law ( P.L. The act also included an across-the-board 0.2% rescission from all non-defense discretionary accounts, including those in HUD's budget. However, the requested decrease in net new budget authority would only represent a 4% decrease in appropriations for HUD programs in aggregate, due to a substantial increase in offsetting collections and receipts from the FHA mortgage insurance programs (see " The Federal Housing Administration Reforms and Funding Levels " later in this report). The final FY2011 appropriations law ( P.L. Neither the House-passed nor the Senate Committee-passed bills included funding for the program. Congress has increased its appropriation for HUD's Housing Counseling Assistance Program in each of the last few years. (NeighborWorks is not part of HUD and is therefore not funded through the HUD budget, but it is usually funded as a related agency in the Transportation-HUD funding bill.)
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is the federal agency charged with administering a number of programs designed to promote the availability of safe, decent, and affordable housing and community development. The agency submits a budget as a part of the President's formal budget request each year, and then Congress, through the appropriations process, decides how much funding to provide to the agency. Funding for HUD is under the jurisdiction of the Department of Transportation, HUD, and Related Agencies subcommittees of the House and the Senate appropriations committees.
Regular appropriations for HUD (not including emergency supplemental funding) have increased by 57% in the nine years prior to FY2011. This increase in the HUD budget has been partly attributable to increased funding for HUD programs, particularly the Section 8 programs, which have had a 70% increase in funding over this period and have grown to account for well over half of HUD's total budget. The increase in funding has also resulted from a decrease in the amount of rescissions, collections, and receipts available to offset the cost of the HUD budget.
For FY2011, the President's budget requested about $45.57 billion in net new budget authority for HUD, a decrease of about 1% from the FY2010 enacted level. However, the requested decrease in net new budget authority would actually include a 3% increase in appropriations for HUD programs in aggregate. The overall increase in appropriations requested would be more than offset by a substantial increase in offsetting collections and receipts, which are estimated to come from proposed changes to the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgage insurance programs. The two Section 8 rental assistance programs were requested to receive the largest increases, followed by increases for programs for the homeless and for HUD's research and technology needs. The President's budget proposed decreased funding for other programs, such as programs providing housing for persons who are elderly or disabled and capital repairs in public housing, and the brownfields redevelopment program would no longer be funded.
The House Appropriations Committee reported its version of the FY2011 HUD funding bill on July 26, 2010 (H.R. 5850, 111th Congress), and it passed the full House on July 29, 2010. The Senate Appropriations Committee approved its version (S. 3644, 111th Congress) on July 23, 2010. The House-passed version would have provided $46.55 billion for HUD in FY2011 and the Senate committee-reported version would have provided $46.59 billion, about $1 billion more than the President's request.
When no appropriations legislation was enacted before the beginning of FY2011, the 111th Congress enacted a series of continuing resolutions (CR) to continue funding at the FY2010 level for most accounts in the federal budget, including all of the accounts in HUD's budget. The last CR of the 111th Congress extended funding into the 112th Congress. On February 18, 2011, the House approved H.R. 1, a year-long CR which would have resulted in an overall reduction in funding for HUD. H.R. 1 was rejected by the Senate on March 9, 2011. The 112th Congress approved three short-term CRs before enacting a final year-long CR that was signed into law (P.L. 112-10) on April 15, 2011. The final FY2011 appropriations law cut funding for HUD, relative to FY2010, but not as deeply as proposed in H.R. 1. The act also included a 0.2% across-the-board rescission for all discretionary accounts, including those in HUD's budget.