Julie Cassidy

We’re one week into a federal government shutdown after Congress failed to pass an annual budget on time, and critical housing funds hang in the balance. With households still feeling pressure from rising costs of living and homelessness reaching a national record last year, any federal budget agreement must include strong support for housing.

According to the Michigan League for Public Policy’s newly released Kids Count in Michigan profiles, housing costs place a heavy burden on more than 6,200 families in Alcona, Alpena, Montmorency and Presque Isle counties. Much more information is available in our county and regional profiles.

Housing services – in rural and urban communities alike – have long been starved of the resources they need to ensure that every family has a safe place to live. Based on the funding proposals put forth by the Trump administration, the House of Representatives and the Senate, things aren’t going to get better in the coming budget year and could, in fact, get much worse.

The Trump administration has called for unprecedented and devastating cuts to affordable housing, homelessness, community development, and fair housing programs.

Specifically, the administration wants to cut rural grant and loan programs that provided more than $2 million last year in mortgage and home repair assistance for families in Alcona, Alpena, Montmorency and Presque Isle counties. The administration also wants to slash funds from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) that help more than 700 families in the four-county region pay the rent. Most of these families are surviving on incomes below $20,000 a year.

Also in the administration’s plan is the complete elimination of the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), which local governments use to create quality affordable housing and build more resilient communities. In Northeast Michigan, the CDBG has supported things like emergency home repairs and the purchase of generators for extreme weather events that frequently affect this part of the state.

In keeping with the Trump administration’s scheme to roll back civil rights protections and resegregate our communities, the presidential budget proposal also calls for a 70% cut to the HUD office that enforces fair housing laws.

Reported cases of illegal housing discrimination have been on the rise for years, with disability-based discrimination now making up more than half of cases. Residents of Northeast Michigan, in particular, could feel the impact of justice denied due to the agency’s gutting: disability rates in the region are some of the highest in the state, reaching about 1 in 4 in Montmorency County.

The U.S. House and Senate draft spending bills for HUD largely reject the massive cuts proposed by the administration, and even propose small increases for some programs. But the proposed funding levels aren’t enough to keep up with rapidly rising rents, meaning the Department would not be able to serve as many families.

While basic needs like food and health care are increasingly out of reach for many families, Congress passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act to take away their Medicaid coverage and food assistance and give tax cuts to millionaires. Michiganders can’t take another hit. Our federal lawmakers must resolve the budget standoff quickly, and without further harm to the families our economy has left behind.