On July 14, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development voted to move its fiscal year 2026 HUD funding bill to the full House Appropriations Committee, which will consider the bill on July 17. The bill, released on July 13, would eliminate funding for some HUD programs, cut funding for others, and allow public housing authorities to fundamentally change how the public housing and housing choice voucher programs operate. While the bill rejects the White House and HUD’s request to cut HUD funding by 43% for FY26 and turn HUD’s five largest housing programs into a state block grant, the authority the bill would provide to the HUD Secretary to unilaterally change fundamental tenets of HUD’s rental assistance programs is equally flawed. For HUD multifamily programs, the bill comes up short compared to funding levels HUD has told congressional staff are necessary to fully fund the Section 8 project-based rental assistance (PBRA) and Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly programs. The bill would provide $17.1 billion for PBRA, a $237 million increase from FY25 funding but less than the (at least) $17.8 billion HUD has privately said is needed for full contract renewals in FY26. The bill would provide $950 million for Section 202 project rental assistance contract, service coordinator, and congregate services grant renewals, an $18.6 million increase from FY25 but less than the $968 million HUD has privately said is needed for full renewals handled under this account. “The funds provided in the bill support authorized rental assistance programs at a fiscally responsible level of $50 billion for Section 8 vouchers, Project Based Rental Assistance, and programs that serve the elderly and disabled. This is roughly equal to FY25 levels. With the flexibilities provided to HUD, we expect the Department to prioritize the 80,000 Veterans Affairs Supportive vouchers that are currently under lease,” Subcommittee Chair Womack, noting that the bill’s policy flexibilities for who is served and for how long will cut the programs’ costs for FY216, said at the July 14 mark up. The Senate Appropriations Committee is expected to take its HUD FY26 bill up later in July. The Majority’s summary of the bill is available here. The Minority’s summary of the bill is here. Bill text is available here.