Library — Advocacy Update

The President's Budget Proposal called for a 19 percent increase in funding for HUD's McKinney-Vento programs, to $2.381 billion for fiscal year (FY) 2014. However, the President's Budget Proposal is not law, but is meant to guide Congress as it works through the appropriations process. Therefore, we need YOUR help to make this proposal a reality!

Yesterday, Senator Jack Reed began asking his colleagues in the Senate to join a letter in support of robust funding in fiscal year (FY) 2014 for McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Grants within the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), as well as for the joint HUD - Department of Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) program. The deadline for senators to join the letter is TOMORROW, Thursday, April 25.

The Alliance has joined 650 other organizations in sending a letter to the leaders of the House and Senate Appropriations Committee to request that they provide as much overall funding as possible to the Appropriations Subcommittee that handles funding for the Departments of Transportation and Housing and Urban Development (HUD) - known as the T-HUD Appropriations Subcommittee.

Quarterly Report: Announcements and Recap. This Quarterly Report includes a preview of key upcoming activities for advocates. Specifically, this issue reviews: McKinney-Vento congressional sign-on letter circulating; President's FY 2014 Budget Briefing webinar; State of Homelessness in America 2013 report release and webinar;  FY 2013 finalized federal funding summary; Capitol Hill Day 2013 preview; and State-level TANF and Medicaid advocacy tools.  

Sequestration, the across-the-board spending cuts of slightly more than 5 percent to all security and non-security discretionary programs, went into effect on March 1. These cuts will impact virtually every program within the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), as well as many other programs that assist those experiencing or at risk of homelessness.

After countless failed attempts by Congress and the Administration to reach a compromise on the so-called "fiscal cliff" throughout December, on Tuesday, January 1, Congress was able to pass a bipartisan bill that averted or postponed a majority of the provisions and events comprising the fiscal cliff. The bill, known as the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (HR 8), was signed into law by the President early this morning.

This week is "National Sequestration Call-In Week!" Join the Alliance and its partners across the country to call your Members of Congress to tell them the negative impacts sequestration would have on your communities' efforts to prevent and end homelessness.

Ending homelessness has been a bipartisan goal for many years. We must ensure that as Members take their place in Congress, they understand that their constituents want them to prioritize preventing and ending homelessness in their districts and states. NOW is the time to begin working with your Members-elect to educate them on these important issues and to help them better understand the issue locally.

This Quarterly Report includes a preview of key upcoming activities for advocates through December, as well as a review of major developments from the last quarter.

Sequestration, or the automatic, across-the-board cuts mandated by the Budget Control Act of 2011, will directly result in thousands upon thousands of people losing their housing assistance, leading to increases in homelessness and a further burden on an already badly strained system.

Alliance Releases Draft CoC Comments

Launch of McKinney Site Visit Campaign

Site Visit Campaign to Secure Increased McKinney-Vento Resources

Quarterly Report: Announcements and Recap

House Voting on Bill with Cuts to Homeless Assistance