This morning the Texas House Appropriations Committee (HAC) met and adopted the LBB recommendations for the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) budget. They made a small change related to the language for IT purchases, but otherwise adopted the LBB recommendations in full. The LBB budget recommendation for TDHCA represents only 29% of of the agency’s request, and disproportionately allocates the state’s general-revenue budget cuts on the housing programs of this state.
The full LBB recommendations for TDHCA can be found here:
http://www.lbb.state.tx.us/House_Appropriations/HAC_Summary_Recs/Agency%20332.pdf
Three particularly notable items are in the recommendations adopted by HAC:
1) Elimination of the Homeless Housing and Services “The recommendations decrease General Revenue funding by $10 million each year for the purposes of assisting regional urban areas in providing services to homeless individuals and families, including services such as case management, and housing placement and retention ”
2) “Recommendations decrease funding in the HTF strategy for the Veterans Housing Support Program, the Amy Young Barrier Removal Program for Persons with Disabilities, the Rural Housing Expansion Program, the Homeownership Program and the Affordable Housing Match Program. The recommendations provide $3 million in General Revenue funding for the statutorily required Texas Bootstrap Owner-Builder Loan Program.”
3) “Sunset Contingency. Recommendations include a rider making agency appropriations in 2013 contingent upon the continuation of the agency and requiring appropriations for 2012 to be used to provide for the phase out of agency operations if the agency is not continued.”
