The House Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Appropriations Subcommittee is scheduled to vote on its fiscal year (FY) 2012 funding bill tomorrow - Thursday, September 8. Then, on Friday, September 9, the House Health and Human Services (HHS) Appropriations Subcommittee is expected to vote on its FY 2012 funding bill.   

The HUD appropriations bill will recommend funding levels for key programs like McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Grants and the joint HUD - Department of Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) program.The HHS appropriations bill will recommend funding levels for Runaway and Homeless Youth Act (RHYA) programs.  

The final FY 2012 funding levels for HUD's McKinney-Vento programs, HUD-VASH, and RHYA will be based on these bills and their Senate counterparts.  

Since this is such an important starting point, we need YOUR help RIGHT AWAY to convince the House HUD and HHS Appropriations Subcommittees to provide:

• $2.4 billion for HUD's McKinney-Vento programs; 
• $75 million for new HUD-VASH vouchers; and
• $135 million for RHYA programs.  

What You Can Do:

Find out if your representative sits on either the House HUD or HHS Appropriations Subcommittees. Then call his/her Washington, DC office RIGHT AWAY. Congressional office phone numbers can be found by calling the congressional switchboard at 202-224-3121.   

If your representative is on the HUD Subcommittee...

1. Ask that your representative include $2.4 billion for HUD's McKinney-Vento programs and $75 million for HUD-VASH in the FY 2012 HUD Appropriations Bill.
2. Then, ask your colleagues, friends, and partners to also call your representative's office.  
3. Let us know which office you contacted by emailing Kate Seif at cseif@naeh.org.

If your representative is on the HHS Subcommittee...

1. Ask that your representative include $135 million for RHYA programs in the FY 2012 HHS Appropriations Bill.
2. Then, ask your colleagues, friends, and partners to also call your representative's office.
3. Let us know which office you contacted by emailing Kate Seif at cseif@naeh.org.  

If your representative is NOT on either the HUD or HHS Subcommittees...

1. Ask that your representative talk to his/her colleagues on the Appropriations Committee to express his/her support for providing $2.4 billion for HUD's McKinney-Vento programs, $75 million for HUD-VASH, and $135 million for RHYA.  
2. Let us know which office(s) you contacted by emailing Kate Seif at cseif@naeh.org.

The federal fiscal year ends on September 30, though Congress is not expected to pass all of its FY 2012 appropriations bills by that date. Instead, Congress is likely to pass a stopgap funding measure, or continuing resolution, for several weeks or months while final funding levels are worked out. The Senate is also currently drafting its FY 2012 HUD and HHS funding bills and is expected to release them in the coming weeks.