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119-hr-6623119th CongressWALLET

Community Development Block Grant Equity Act of 2025

Sponsored By: Representative Cohen, Steve [D-TN-9]

Introduced

Summary

Rewrites how Community Development Block Grant money is allocated to favor places with higher poverty and older, overcrowded housing.

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  • Low-income families and older residents: Cities, counties, and state areas with higher poverty rates, more female-headed households with children, more pre-1950 housing occupied by poor households, or greater overcrowding would receive relatively larger shares of CDBG funding. That changes which neighborhoods get grants for housing repair, infrastructure, and community services.
  • Local governments and jurisdictions: Metropolitan cities, urban counties, and nonentitlement (State) areas would have their CDBG shares recalculated using weighted averages of four ratios. The poverty ratio is counted five times and the pre-1950 housing ratio is counted three times, which shifts funding toward jurisdictions with those concentrations.
  • Rules and measurements: The bill would redefine “poverty” as income at or below the poverty level and remove and renumber several definition paragraphs in statute. Those definitional changes affect how the new allocation metrics are measured and applied.

*Authorizes a $3.4 billion baseline for fiscal year 2026 and ties annual CDBG allocations to CPI‑U through 2029, increasing authorized spending relative to a fixed baseline.*

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Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

2 provisions identified: 0 benefits, 0 costs, 2 mixed.

More community grant money, allocations shift

If enacted, the bill would authorize $3.425 billion for community development block grants for fiscal year 2026. Each year through FY2029 the amount would rise by the CPI‑U percentage for the prior four calendar quarters. These are authorizations only; actual funding would need later appropriations. The bill would also change how HUD splits the money among places. Allocations would use a weighted average of four ratios: poverty (counted five times), pre‑1950 housing occupied by poor households (three times), female‑headed households with children (once), and housing overcrowding (once). This would move grant money toward some jurisdictions and away from others, and it would apply to metropolitan cities, urban counties, and state nonentitlement areas.

New poverty definition for housing aid

If enacted, the bill would define “poverty” in section 102(a) as having income at or below the poverty level. This definition would apply when agencies, grantees, or programs use section 102(a). The change would take effect upon enactment. That could change who qualifies for some housing and community development help.

Sponsors & CoSponsors

Sponsor

Cohen, Steve [D-TN-9]

TN • D

Cosponsors

There are no cosponsors for this bill.

Roll Call Votes

No roll call votes available for this bill.

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