After returning from the August recess, Congress and the White House struck a deal to pass a continuing resolution to keep the government funded through December, along with Harvey disaster relief funding and a debt ceiling raise. This means government programs will continue to receive funding at the same level as Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 for the first three months of FY 2018. Because FY 2018 funds from HUD’s McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Programs are not distributed until much later in the fiscal year, this deal will not impact grant funding at this time.
After the continuing resolution expires, Congress will need to either extend another continuing resolution, or pass long-term spending bills through the end of FY 2018. Both the House and Senate Appropriations Committees have approved legislation for consideration by each full chamber that would fund the government, with the Senate spending at current sequestration levels, and the House even lower. Those bills include flat funding from 2017 in the House and a $73 million increase in the Senate for McKinney-Vento.
For more analysis from the Alliance on these bills, you can read the blogs on both the House and Senate bills. For a more detailed breakdown of the current funding levels being considered in Congress for a variety of programs, you can read the budget chart here.