Rep. Maxine Waters, along with Sens. Alex Padilla and Elizabeth Warren, have led nearly 100 lawmakers in urging Congressional Appropriations leadership to include enhanced funding for the Emergency Housing Voucher (EHV) program as part of Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 funding legislation.
The letter was addressed specifically to Urban Development & Related Agencies Senate Appropriations Committee Co-Chairs Cindy-Hyde Smith and Steve Womack, and Ranking Members Kristen Gillibrand and Jim Clyburn.
Thousands of Americans depend on this vital program for safe, stable, and affordable housing. The letter comes as the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) announced in March that the program will soon run out of money due to rents rising at the fastest pace in decades.
“[Public Housing Agencies] in every state have benefited from the improved voucher issuance and utilization that the EHV program provides, as have the people and communities they serve,” wrote the lawmakers in the letter. “Congress must provide sufficient and robust funding to ensure that the families who rely on EHVs don’t lose their housing. The EHV program provides rental assistance to help end and prevent homelessness,” continued the lawmakers. “At a time when housing costs and homelessness continue to rise, we respectfully request that you provide adequate funding in the FY26 THUD Appropriations bill to renew all EHVs to ensure that those who have been served by the program do not lose their housing support and to ensure landlords continue receiving the rental payments they depend on to maintain their properties.”
The EHV program supports more than 107,400 individuals including children, seniors, people with disabilities, and survivors of domestic violence. In fact, California received 15,417 of the 70,000 emergency housing vouchers authorized by Congress, but the program is now at risk.
“President Trump’s bold budget proposes a reimagining of how the federal government addresses affordable housing and community development,” said HUD Secretary Scott Turner of the FY 2026 Discretionary Budget. “It rightfully provides states and localities greater flexibility while thoughtfully consolidating, streamlining, and simplifying existing programs to serve the American people at the highest standard. It creates the opportunity for greater partnership and collaboration across levels of government by requiring states and localities to have skin in the game and carefully consider how their policies hinder or advance goals of self-sufficiency and economic prosperity. Importantly, it furthers our mission-minded approach at HUD of taking inventory of our programs and processes to address the size and scope of the federal government, which has become too bloated and bureaucratic to efficiently function. I look forward to continuing budgetary conversations in the months ahead as we get our fiscal house in order and maximize HUD’s budget for the rural, tribal, and urban communities we are called to serve.”
The EHV program was spearheaded by Rep. Waters in 2021 through the American Rescue Plan Act in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and concerns that people experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness were at greater risk of contracting COVID-19. Congress secured $5 billion in funding for 70,000 vouchers through September 2030, with increased flexibility for public housing authorities that made the program more successful than typical housing vouchers.
“Funding the EHV program was, and remains, the right thing to do, and is a smart use of federal dollars. It would be more expensive to rehouse or provide services for these individuals after becoming homeless again than it would to keep them housed with additional EHV funding,” stated the letter. “Without these critical provisions and continued investment, PHAs will face major funding shortfalls in 2027, putting thousands of households at risk of losing their homes. Families who were previously at risk of homelessness and found stability through the EHV program could once again face housing insecurity.”
Click here for the full letter to the Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development & Related Agencies Senate Appropriations Committee in support of the EHV program.
