The Build Back Better bill, which passed the U.S. House of Representatives but not the Senate last fall, included $150B to expand affordable housing. After that bill stalled, President Joe Biden's administration seemed to go quiet on the push for federal action on housing. In late March, however, the administration released its $5.8T proposed federal budget for fiscal 2023, which included a substantial increase in housing program funding and made it clear that housing is a priority — even though not all of its ideas in Build Back Better transitioned to the budget proposal. What isn't clear is whether Congress will agree with the president on housing, or even if it does, whether a healthy increase in federal funds will make much of a dent in the worst housing crisis in at least a generation. 
The administration proposed a total of $71.9B in discretionary spending for the Department of Housing and Urban Development in fiscal 2023. That is an increase of $6.2B, or 9.4%, from the enacted fiscal 2022 budget, and $12.3B more than fiscal 2021."It's a step in the right direction, but not enough…  Read the full story here. | 
