Super-Committee Fails to Produce a Deal
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In August, Congress passed a deficit reduction package, known as the Budget Control Act (BCA) of 2011, which created the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, more commonly referred to as the Super-Committee. Last week, the Super-Committee announced that it was unable to reach an agreement to reduce the federal deficit by the needed $1.2 trillion, as outlined in the BCA.
Its failure to produce a deal means sequestration, or a series of automatically triggered spending cuts to both defense and non-defense accounts, will begin in January 2013. Sequestration will consist of across-the-board cuts from 2013 through fiscal year (FY) 2021. Most affordable housing and homelessness programs are not exempt from sequestration.
The Super-Committee's failure only highlights how important it will be for us to work together over the coming years to help protect housing and homeless assistance programs as much as possible. This difficult funding environment will make it even harder to provide adequate resources for those experiencing or at risk of homelessness. Therefore, programs working to end homelessness should plan to increasingly rely on mandatory spending and/or mainstream programs such as Medicaid, TANF, SNAP, and SSI, and communities will have to use existing resources even more efficiently.
Background
The BCA contained a two-step process for cutting spending. (1) That discretionary spending (including almost all HUD programs) would be capped, generally keeping any spending increases below the expected rate of inflation over the next 10 years; and (2) That $1.2 trillion would be cut from the federal budget from 2013 to 2021. This second set of cuts could have been avoided had the Super-Committee come up with an alternate plan. Some programs targeted toward low-income persons, such as TANF, SSI, Social Security, and Medicaid, are exempt from sequestration.
Congress is, of course, empowered to reverse or alter the BCA in any way. This would allow it to continue without any budget cuts whatsoever, or, alternatively, it could reduce the sequestration required of defense spending and increase the burden on non-defense programs, potentially putting funding for homeless assistance programs at even greater risk. It remains unclear how viable these options are.
For more information on what the Super-Committee's indecision means for ending homelessness, please read the Alliance's recent brief, or check out our blog post written by Steve Berg, Vice President for Programs and Policy at the Alliance.
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House Circulates Mental Health Sign-On Letter
Representative Grace F. Napolitano (D-CA), Co-Chair of the Congressional Mental Health Caucus, is currently circulating a sign-on letter urging House leaders to protect funding for behavioral health programs, including substance abuse and mental health programs, some of which serve homeless and at-risk populations.
What You Can Do:
- See if your member has already signed the letter by clicking here. If so, thank them!
- If not, contact your representative's office and ask to speak to the person who handles health issues. You can get their number by calling the congressional switchboard at (202) 224-3121.
- Urge the staff person to have his/her boss sign on to Rep. Napolitano's letter supporting funding for behavioral health programs.
- If they agree to do so, they should contact Ane Romero, in Rep. Napolitano's office at ane.romero@mail.house.gov by COB Thursday, December 1.
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