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TDHCA budget hearing: agency seeks funding amid LBB summary; advocates urge retention of reporting rider for federal programs
Summary
LBB recommended TDHCA’s 2026–27 funding at $910.3 million — a near‑29% biannual decrease from 2024–25 — largely because federal COVID relief programs are winding down; TDHCA urged lawmakers to consider its capital IT projects and advocates urged retaining accountability riders for weatherization and federal funds.
The House Appropriations subcommittee took testimony on the 2026–27 recommendations for the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA). LBB staff told the committee TDHCA’s recommended all‑funds total is $910.3 million, a biennial decrease driven largely by the winding down of federal pandemic emergency funding and related program activity. The LBB presentation noted proposed deletions of several riders that LBB says are no longer funded or whose programs have ceased.
TDHCA Executive Director Bobby Wilkinson described the department’s programs spanning affordable housing tax credits, multifamily mortgage and conduit bonds, emergency shelter and homelessness prevention, and energy assistance and weatherization programs. The agency said it expects a roughly $367.5 million net decrease from the current 2024–25 biennium primarily because COVID relief grants are tapering off and some one‑time items in the prior base will not reoccur.
Wilkinson described TDHCA’s 2026–27 General Revenue budget ask and capital IT items: three IT capital requests are proposed at no GR cost to update systems used across multifamily workflow and consolidate legacy Access databases.
Advocacy groups urged the committee to retain a TDHCA rider (LBB referred to it as rider 13 in the packet) that requires reporting on federal weatherization and related allocations. Sierra Club’s Cyrus Reed told the committee the rider provides transparency on how federal infrastructure and weatherization funds are used at the local level and asked the subcommittee not to remove it. Rebecca and other nonprofits likewise urged a focus on homelessness prevention and on preserving accountability for federal funding disbursements.
Ending: No votes occurred at the hearing. The department said it would work with LBB staff and members on any requested clarifications, and advocates asked lawmakers to keep reporting and transparency riders in the bill pattern where appropriate.
