The Trump administration proposed Friday $26.7 billion in cuts to federal housing aid programs vital to keeping thousands of low-income Syracuse renters housed.
The rollbacks are part of the president’s proposed federal budget, which include massive spending cuts.
President Donald Trump’s budget would cut 23% of all spending compared to the federal government’s current spending plan, according to reporting from NPR. Rental aid would be reduced by about 40% from the previous budget, according to a report from National Public Radio. Congress will review the budget and vote on it by July 1.
It is unclear how the president’s proposed budget would impact rental assistance in Syracuse, where at least 3,500 households rely on rental assistance from Section 8, a federal program that subsidizes rent. But Bill Simmons, the executive director of Syracuse Housing Authority, the local organization disbursing federal rental aid, has said in previous instances that any cuts would jeopardize housing for city residents.
Simmons has also said that the cuts could imperil the redevelopment of public housing.
The cuts proposed by the White House Friday would reshape project-based voucher assistance, eliminating programs like Section 8 housing choice vouchers, and project-based vouchers as currently known. The programs subsidize rent for millions of Americans and thousands of Syracusans.
Project-based vouchers are a key component of the proposed plans to upgrade 75 housing units at McKinney Manor as part of the redevelopment. SHA’s proposal includes seeking the conversion of the housing units into project-based voucher housing through a rental assistance demonstration program.
Instead, the budget indicates that the states will disburse block grants based on a formula. States will have to design their own rental assistance programs based on preferences and needs. Rental assistance would be capped after two years for “able-bodied adults.” A majority of rental aid will go to older adults and people with disabilities. The president’s proposal suggests the private sector will have a heavy involvement in implementing this potential new program.
Simmons did not respond to several requests for comment Friday and Monday regarding the impacts of cuts found in the budget proposal.
Justin Sayles, the spokesperson for Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon, expressed skepticism about potential reductions to federal rental assistance.
“It’s a proposal. It’s not actually being cut. We still support investments in housing. If it looks like it’s going to become a reality, we’ll certainly cross that bridge,” Sayles said.
Alex Lawson, the housing policy manager at CNY Fair Housing, said the president’s budget proposal is shocking.
“I really didn’t anticipate the programs being eliminated,” he said. “It’s pretty draconian. There is no silver lining.”
The consolidation of rental assistance into block grants is alarming to Lawson, who said the move highlights a recklessness behind the administration’s proposal.
Block grants are a measure debuted by former President Richard Nixon to abdicate what were once state responsibilities and shift them to the private sector, Lawson said.
Trump going after a Republican-created measure from decades past is confusing, Lawson said.
“The federal government contributes the most to housing in this country, and if they walk away from it, there will be nothing to replace it,” he said.
Lawson said the loss of vital housing programs will be devastating for tenants everywhere.
“It’s a basic human need and there’s no support for it,” he said. “Yeah, people are gonna die. I don’t want to be alarmist, but yeah, there’s no way around it.”
Elected leaders representing Syracuse and New York say the cuts would be catastrophic for tenants. Hochul broadly rejected the budget for its cuts to housing assistance and in other areas, she said in a press release.
U.S. Rep. John Mannion, who represents New York’s 22nd Congressional District, which includes Syracuse, said he rejects the vision outlined by the White House’s budget and that he wants to strengthen federal housing aid in Congress.
The budget does “does not see affordable housing, redevelopment or support for vulnerable families as worth investing in,” Mannion said in a statement to Central Current.
“Project-based vouchers, like those critical to the future of McKinney Manor, are lifelines — not luxuries,” he said.
Reporting contributed by Central Current reporter Patrick McCarthy.
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