By Suzanne Anarde, RCAC chief executive officer

As volumes and volumes of emails hit my inbox with predictions of the Biden/Harris Administration impacts on everything from COVID to gender equality, I thought it would be interesting to consider what impacts might be felt across the country on the Mutual Self-Help Housing Program.

As someone who has been going to the Hill for nearly 30 years and talking to congressional staff about self-help housing, I have repeatedly found that the program is truly a non-partisan subject. Both sides of the aisle (and in between) “get” the foundational value that self-help housing provides for participating families, neighborhoods, and regions. Both House and Senate budgets also tend to consistently support the 523 Self-Help Technical Assistance and 502 Single Family Direct Mortgage line items in the Rural Housing budget. Building on that consistent support, the Biden/Harris Administration could (and should!) be impactful by increasing those funding levels and keenly understanding the value that 502 Single Family Direct mortgages provide to rural and Indigenous communities.

However, where a Biden/Harris Administration could certainly be a catalyst for change within USDA is recalibrating USDA’s approach to staff devoted to rural development and rural housing. The decline in USDA requested funding for Rural Development salary and expense is sobering, as is its reluctance to fill budgeted positions. The Fiscal Year 2019 budget request of $612 million represented a $67.9 million reduction from Fiscal Year 2018. While this represented a 10 percent decrease overall for Rural Development, the reduction within the Rural Housing Service staff salary and benefits was 25 percent! The Fiscal Year 2020 budget proposed a $40 million reduction. Congress rejected that request and the House inserted language requiring USDA to fill all funded positions. The Fiscal Year 2021 budget did not seek additional Rural Development decreases and requested an increase of $63 million. However, that increase would support 4,600 positions at Rural Development, far below the 5,168 Rural Development positions at the beginning of 2018.

The systemic reduction in Rural Development capacity and presence in rural communities reflects USDA’s lack of priority and investment in rural community development and housing. Will that change? That remains to be seen. Understanding the connection between strong and adequate Rural Housing Service staffing and the outcomes of families who build and reside in Mutual-Self Help homes is critical for this Administration. However, it is incumbent on us to elevate the stories from Mutual Self-Help Housing families, along with the narrative of the benefits from the ripple effect the program has in the communities where these families build, work, and raise their families.