Congress is currently working on the Appropriations bill for Federal Year 2026, including the budget for the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) which funds and oversees many important housing programs which impact our ability to provide affordable housing and address homelessness in Santa Clara County.  Right now, the House draft FY26 budget for HUD is $67.8 billion, which is a net reduction of $939 million from last year.  One cut of note is that the HOME Investment Partnerships block grant is completely zeroed out, a cut of $1.25 billion nationally and will mean a loss of approximately $6 million combined to Santa Clara County jurisdictions for 2026. 

One positive note for the House draft budget is that project-based and individual housing vouchers are not cut, as the President had proposed in his version of the FY26 budget.  The Senate committee approved appropriations bill includes $73.3 billion for HUD, which is an increase of over $4 billion from last year.  Both budget proposals need to be voted on by their respective, individual bodies and then the House and Senate would need to reconcile between themselves to have an approved version for the President’s signature (or veto) before the end of September (i.e., the end of the current federal fiscal year).

Please contact your Senators and Representative to tell them to support the Senate version of the THUD Appropriations bill.  Any Appropriations bill will require 60 votes in the Senate – so there is opportunity to leverage a bi-partisan consensus on this budget!  Resources such as the National Low-Income Housing Coalition’s individual and organizational sign-on letters are available to support your efforts.  Contact your leaders directly with your own personal email or letter!