The Department of Housing and Urban Development: FY 2008 Appropriations: RL34022.

On February 5, 2007, President Bush released his FY2008 budget request, ten days before the Congress finished work on the FY2007 spending bills by approving a revised year-long continuing resolution (P.L. 110-5). The FY2007 CR funded most Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) programs at their FY2006 level, but with decreases for some programs, and increases for other programs. The CR provided HUD with over $36.6 billion for FY2007. The President's FY2008 budget requests about a billion dollar decrease in funding for HUD. It proposes to provide no new funding for several programs that have been targeted for elimination in recent years, but that Congress has continued to fund (HOPE VI, Rural Housing and Economic Development, Brownfields Redevelopment, and Section 108 Loan Guarantees). The President's FY2008 budget also requests decreased funding for several programs, including Section 202 Housing for the Elderly, Section 811 Housing for the Disabled, the Community Development Block Grant program, Lead Hazard Reduction, Fair Housing programs, and the Public Housing Capital Fund. Each of these programs has been targeted for decreases in past budget requests, but Congress did not approve the requested decreases. The President's budget requests funding increases for several programs, including programs for the homeless, persons with AIDS, and first-time homebuyers. The FY2008 funding debate will also be shaped by the ongoing decline in receipts from the Federal Housing Administration available to offset the cost of the budget. For FY2007, it was estimated that FHA would generate a net surplus of over $650 million that could offset the cost of the HUD budget; for FY2008, that amount is estimated to be about $250 million, although Congress may consider legislative proposals that could increase that amount. This report, which will be updated, tracks congressional appropriations for HUD and provides a detailed discussion of the funding and issues related to the majority of accounts in the Department's budget. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]