Witnesses urge Congress to preserve and fund HOME as draft reforms are debated
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Summary
Stakeholders warned that proposed appropriations cuts or elimination of the HOME program would severely reduce affordable housing production and urged Congress to fund modernization efforts rather than defund the program.
Witnesses and members used the subcommittee hearing to press Congress to preserve and adequately fund the HOME Investment Partnerships Program while pursuing statutory reforms to improve efficiency.
Ranking Member Cleaver told the committee HOME is HUD's largest block grant dedicated exclusively to affordable housing and said "the program is often used with the low income tax credits" to leverage private investment. Multiple witnesses warned that appropriations proposals that would reduce or eliminate HOME funds would be “devastating” to affordable-housing production.
Allison George provided state-level data: she said Colorado received over $16,000,000 in HOME funding in fiscal year 25 (about $5,000,000 to the state and $11,000,000 to local governments). George told members that since 1993 Colorado has assisted roughly 29,000 households and invested roughly $280,000,000 of HOME funds in more than 500 projects across 60+ municipalities.
Eric Oberdorfer and other witnesses said HOME leverages private investment and catalyzes deals that would otherwise be infeasible. Mercy Housing cited specific projects—Timber Creek Apartments in Omaha, Neb., where a $700,000 HOME award was used to recapitalize and renovate 180 homes, and a Savannah, Ga., redevelopment that produced 484 modern homes—illustrating HOME’s role as gap financing in multifunder deals.
Committee members emphasized that modernization should not be pursued by cutting annual funding. Representatives from high-cost states and members representing rural districts urged increases or steady appropriations so reauthorization and regulatory fixes can expand housing supply without losing the program’s reach.
