The Potential Costs of the Trump Administration's Proposed Cuts to HUD Funding

Pam Fessler continues NPR's coverage of the Trump administration's funding of public housing, especially with the fund that pays for repairs to aging public housing facilities around the country.

Public housing officials estimate that it would cost $50 billion to fix living for the 2 million Americans currently living in public housing. "Part of the problem stems from a steady decline in public housing repair funding over the past decade. About $2 billion to $3 billion has been appropriated in recent years, half the amount approved in 2000. At the same time, the needs have grown at a more rapid rate, creating a massive backlog," according to Fessler.

According to previous coverage by Fessler from April 2019 (and Planetizen coverage from March 2019), the Trump administration's draft budget for 2020 proposing cuts to public housing repair funding in addition to eliminating the HOME program and Community Development Block Grants.

Fessler's current coverage reports on the Trump administration's support of the cuts, as explained in recent statement by U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson to a House appropriations subcommittee, but the bulk of the article is devoted to describing living conditions in public housing units around the country.