Will Trump’s proposed budget gut assistance for Fort Worth renters?
Thousands of Fort Worth families struggle to pay rent. The federal government spends tens of millions of dollars to help them cover the cost.
Fort Worth Housing Solutions, the city’s public housing authority, disbursed more than 4,000 housing choice vouchers in 2023, according to a self-published annual report summarizing the group’s activities.
The agency pays out the subsidy to landlords, compensating for the below market rents they provide to Cowtown’s cash-strapped tenants.
Some housing experts fear Donald Trump’s latest fiscal wish list, should Congress fulfill it, will strangle this vital lifeline for struggling renters.
The administration’s proposed fiscal year 2026 budget, unveiled May 2, recommends Congress slash billions from the Housing and Urban Development department’s budget. In the president’s ideal world, legislators would scrap (among other things):
▪ Almost $27 billion in federal rental assistance, including housing choice vouchers. The administration also proposed cutting rental subsidies to “able bodied adults” after two years of payment. Trump’s budget team suggests the drastic reduction would allow states to develop their own, ostensibly better run rent subsidy programs in place of “the current Federal dysfunctional rental assistance programs.”
▪ The Community Development Block Grant program, $3.3 billion in funds sent to states and localities to help bankroll infrastructure, housing rehabilitation and other public initiatives. Trump’s budget proposal characterizes the program as “poorly targeted,” adding that “the program has been used for a variety of projects that the Federal Government should not be funding, such as improvement projects at a brewery, a plaza for concerts, and skateboard parks.”
▪ The HOME Investment Partnerships Program, $1.25 billion in grants intended to offset affordable housing construction costs. The Trump administration claims “the Federal Government’s involvement increases the regulatory burden of producing affordable housing.”
The cutbacks could carve gaping holes in the operating budgets of municipal housing authorities.
Fort Worth Housing Solutions spent roughly $79.5 million in HUD funds in 2023, according to the organization’s financial statement. The bulk, about $60 million, covered housing choice vouchers. It spent about $1.5 million worth of community development grants.
“In total, the ‘skinny’ request foreshadows a full request that will aim to slash HUD spending by 44% from FY25, including a proposal that would result in an unprecedented 43% cut to HUD’s rental assistance programs,” the National Low Income Housing Coalition, a research and advocacy group, warned in a May 5 memo.
Mary-Margaret Lemons, Fort Worth Housing Solutions’ president, refrained from commenting on the proposed cuts at length, noting that presidential budgets are rarely implemented item-for-item.
“FWHS is hopeful that a budget is passed by Congress that reflects the needs of our community,” she wrote to the Star-Telegram. “Tarrant County continues to grow at a rapid pace and we know affordable housing is critical to the health of our city. We continue to work with our local, state and federal partners to keep them informed of the local needs.”
Mindy Cochran, the executive director of Arlington’s housing authority, struck a similar tone.
“Taken at face value, the cuts would of course be devastating to the families that need these programs,” she wrote. “However, it is far to early to speculate on what may or may not happen. The President’s budget is often far from the budget enacted by Congress, if in fact they pass a budget.”
Trump had proposed shearing 18.3% off HUD’s budget during his first stint in office. The suggested cuts stalled, thanks in part “to advocates and congressional champions who worked tirelessly to protect housing choice vouchers and other vital HUD programs,” according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition.
