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COSCDA Advocacy Priorities

The Council of State Community Development Agencies (COSCDA) advocates for the common community development goals of state agencies. COSCDA acts as a liaison between our members, Congress, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on a host of programmatic and regulatory issues. COSCDA’s key program areas include: 

Community Development | Housing | Disaster Recovery | Homelessness

The advocacy priorities are developed by COSCDA’s member committees and refined by the Board of Directors. For more information, contact Jenna Hampton Pomponi ([email protected]), COSCDA’s Director of Advocacy and Federal Programs.

Advocacy Principles

COSCDA members have a wealth of experience administering HUD’s grant programs at the state level. Drawing from this experience, COSCDA identifies several principles that guide our advocacy efforts. 

FUNDING

  • Respond to current funding needs through a reliable annual appropriations process. Avoid long-term continuing resolutions and government shutdowns. 
  • Work quickly to provide disaster recovery funding without attaching such funding to contentious political negotiations. 

GRANT PROGRAMS

  • Improve and invest in existing programs instead of launching new pilot programs that draw away funding and administrative capacity. 
  • Preserve the flexibility that makes Community Planning and Development (CPD) grants uniquely valuable and allows states to respond to local needs and priorities. 
  • Modernize HUD programs by streamlining outdated and burdensome requirements. Make programs more responsive to current development realities. 
  • Coordinate federal compliance standards-specifically through the adoption of other federal agency reviews on labor, procurement, relocation, and environmental review. 

HUD STAFF 

  • Maintain an appropriate level of staff at HUD headquarters and field offices. Staff should have enough capacity to responsibly oversee programs, provide guidance, and answer questions from HUD grantees and partners. 
  • Engage in a productive federal-state partnership. Ensure that state agency grantees are equipped to successfully administer HUD’s many state-level grant programs. 

Funding Priorities

Program (in millions) FY25 Enacted FY26 Enacted* FY27 Request**
Community Development Block Grant
$3,300
TBD

TBD
HOME Investment Partnerships Program
$1,250
TBD

TBD
Homeless Assistance Grant
$4,051
TBD

TBD

Emergency Solutions Grant (subaccount of HAGs)

$290

TBD

TBD
HUD Office of Community Planning & Development
$168.5
TBD

$180

*COSCDA will update this funding chart after Congress approves FY26 appropriations.

**COSCDA will finalize our FY27 funding requests in early 2026. 

  • Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) Funding: The CDBG-DR program is not included in the table above because it does not receive annual appropriations. Instead, Congress periodically provides supplemental funding for CDBG-DR when there is a need for disaster recovery funding. 
  • Provide pre-award funding to CDBG-DR grantees for planning and initial disaster recovery activities. 

Cross-Cutting Priorities

  • Provide guidance on the new policy requirements in Addendum 1 of FY25 grant agreements, including the use of the SAVE verification system. 
  • Streamline HUD’s administration of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). 
  • Provide Build America, Buy America (BABA) exemptions and waivers to HUD programs. 
  • Modernize Davis-Bacon and Section 3 requirements and provide administrative relief.

Community Development Priorities

Key Programs: Community Development Block Grant (CDBG)

  • Improve the CDBG program to leverage federal investment in local communities. 
  • Preserve CDBG’s role as a critical financing tool for community growth and economic outcomes. 

Housing Priorities

Key Programs: HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME), HOME-American Rescue Plan Act (HOME-ARP), National Housing Trust Fund (HTF) 

  • Modernize the HOME program to increase housing supply and improve program administration. 
  • Preserve the HTF to help address the affordable housing supply gap for low-income households. 
  • Establish a 30% non-entitlement set-aside under the Pathways to Removing Obstacles (PRO Housing) grant program for FY25 and future funding awards. 

Disaster Recovery Priorities

Key Programs: Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR)

  • Permanently authorize and improve the CDBG-DR program to expedite effective disaster recovery. 
  • Authorize grant funding to help states prepare for the next disaster through planning, resilience, and mitigation activities. 
  • Improve data accessibility and exchange for timely disaster response and recovery. 
  • Consider the recommendations of the FEMA Review Council and how changes to FEMA’s programs could impact the landscape of disaster recovery. 

 

Homelessness Priorities

Key Programs: Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG), Continuum of Care (CoC), Emergency Housing Vouchers (EHV) 

  • Rescind the FY25 CoC NOFO and renew funding for all existing CoC grantees in 2026. 
  • Provide adequate funding and flexibility to ensure that current households served by the EHV program do not lose critical housing assistance. 
  • Increase flexibility for ESG funding to support emergency shelters and housing placements.