Trump Budget Cuts 2017: Public Housing, HUD Could Lose $6 Billion In Funding

President Donald Trump's administration is likely to cut $6 billion from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), which provides about 5 million Americans with some form of housing assistance, according to a preliminary budget plan, the Washington Post reported Wednesday. The plan would curtail public housing support and stop funding for community development grants that provide communities with resources to address a wide range of unique community development needs.

This possible move has been reportedly criticized by not only HUD staffers, but also by people who want better infrastructure in their neighborhoods.

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The proposal would completely cut funding for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), which is a flexible program aimed toward community development needs, the Post reported. It began in 1974 and is one of the longest continuously running programs at HUD. CDGB provides annual grants on a formula basis to 1,209 general units of local government and states. This program had a budget of $3 billion for the current fiscal year.

The housing authorities across the country have expressed their concern regarding the White House's possible budget cut. Shola Olatoye, the chairman of New York City Housing Authority, the nation's largest public housing authority, estimated that possible Trump cuts would mean losses for all aspects of NYCHA housing, including a $121.1 million loss for public housing developments and a $53.8 million loss for the subsidy of private apartments known as Section 8, New York Daily News reported last Friday.

A likely $1.3 billion cut from the public housing capital fund's original 2016 funding would deprive public housing authorities of their ability to provide vouchers as well as subsidized housing to local, lower-income residents. One of the important programs, The HOME Investment Partnerships Program and Choice Neighborhoods, which helps lower-income communities get housing or redevelop lower-income areas, will also reportedly see a funding cut.

Meanwhile, HUD Secretary Ben Carson, known for his conservative stance on public assistance, said that dependency on HUD programs could become “a way of life” for recipients, the Post reported.

It remains unclear whether the proposed cuts will be included in Trump's final budget proposal. It will be known only next week when the president will release the budget plan. HUD spokesman Jereon Brown said the budget document “is still a work in progress.”