The Senate Appropriations Committee’s fiscal year 2022 HUD funding bill would bring welcome changes to the Rental Assistance Demonstration.

As reported, the bill would provide $6 million to increase Section 202/Project Rental Assistance Contract rents to facilitate RAD for PRAC conversion.

Second, the bill would give HUD the authority to increase Section 8 rents, after RAD for PRAC conversion, “as necessary to ensure the ongoing provision and coordination of services or to avoid a reduction in project subsidy.” Ensuring rents upon conversion are sufficient to meet the preservation needs of the community while not sacrificing resident services and supports has been problematic. LeadingAge strongly supports this policy change, which HUD itself requested Congress make as part of HUD’s FY22 request to Congress.

Third, the bill would expand RAD to include Section 811 communities, all of which are supported by Project Rental Assistance contracts. Again, LeadingAge strongly supports this policy change. Just before COVID struck, in early 2020, LeadingAge was coordinating sessions with HUD and Section 811 providers to brainstorm the best ways to bring Section 811 communities into the RAD preservation program. In its FY22 budget request to Congress, HUD requested the RAD for 811 expansion.

The Senate’s FY22 HUD bill was released on October 18. The House passed its FY22 HUD funding bill on July 29.