Thousands of Fresno residents would lose their homes under Trump’s budget plan, officials warn

When Sharon Williams spoke at Friday’s Fresno Housing Authority news conference, she began by referencing a song about impending, Biblical change. 

“There’s a storm out on the ocean, and it’s moving this way. If your soul’s not anchored in Jesus, you will surely drift away,” said Williams — the chair of the FHA’s city board of commissioners. 

With the attention of about 50 attendees, Williams added,“I don’t know what your faith is, but what I’m saying is, a storm has already hit.”

The Fresno Housing Authority called the conference to criticize President Donald Trump’s recent budget proposal, which housing officials say would devastate the local economy and rental market, including “a potential mass displacement event” as the current administration flirts with overwhelming budget cuts to national affordable-housing and rental-assistance programs. 

The proposal includes a near-50% reduction in funding for the Housing Choice Voucher program — more commonly known as Section 8.

Locally, the reduction would force about half of the FHA’s 11,000 voucher holders out of their homes — a move they say would displace about 15,000 individual residents. 

The move would also gut millions of dollars in rental revenue for the local economy, according to the Housing Authority, as landlords lose out on about $72 million in annual voucher income.

Fire and brimstone was the tone of the day as Tyrone Roderick Williams, CEO of the FHA, hammered home the agency’s belief that the cuts are “unreasonable,” especially when the president’s budget proposal includes cuts to programs that help build self-sufficiency skills for often underserved communities.

“One of the things that I am very concerned about is that there are discussions about cutting budgets, and there seems to be no conversations about the impacts,” Williams said. “It’s almost like we’ll cut the budget, and then we’ll figure out how to deal with the damage that comes from those cuts.”

Federal services like the Resident Opportunity and Self-Sufficiency (ROSS) and the Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) programs would also lose out on millions of dollars in funding under the president’s recent budget proposal. It would also put a two-year cap on rental assistance for able-bodied voucher holders from the ages of 17-60. 

“No job that you can take can help you make that kind of financial leap in two years,” Tyrone Roderick Williams said. He added that the FHA’s internal data says it takes as long as 10 years for residents to reach self-sufficiency.

The White House also includes direction toward “resetting” the proper balance between federal and state responsibilities by advocating for states to administer vouchers at the local level — effectively ending the Housing Choice Voucher program. 

Such a drastic change would take years to implement at the state level, according to Tyrone Roderick Williams. With the state facing a budget deficit in the billions, he said he doesn’t even know if the state would have the resources to address the problem any time soon.

“As state resources become more restricted, every single funding source to make projects like this and so many others are absolutely critical,” he said. “To eliminate homes at the same time that we say we’re having a housing crisis, is unconscionable.”

The federal administration’s funding cuts are coupled with direction to radically change the way the Department of Housing and Urban Development provides services to local jurisdictions. 

Some of the administration’s reasons for the cuts are more traditional, like bringing power back to the states, while others are more unconventional — like their recommendation to end funding for the Pathways to Removing Obstacles to Housing, or PRO, program, which they say “poisons the minds of Americans” with “cultural Marxism.”

PRO is a Biden-era program that sought to provide funding to jurisdictions that are actively taking steps to remove barriers to affordable housing — citing minority communities as most often burdened with the housing crisis. Today, the PRO page is gone, and residents are redirected to the HUD homepage. 

Ultimately, Congress possesses the power to approve the federal budget. However, the president’s budget proposal at least signals to the country the administration’s goals, and can also serve as an initial negotiating tool for Congress to build on. 

Tom Bannon, the chief executive officer of the California Apartment Association, said that the president’s budget proposal would bring a “troubling uncertainty” to both renters and landlords. 

“Congress must preserve the program’s core protections or establish a suitable alternative that ensures continued housing stability for vulnerable households,” Bannon said in an emailed statement to Fresnoland. 

Tyrone Roderick Williams urged residents to call on their local elected officials to reject this budget proposal. 

“Memorial Day in just two weeks, many of the conversations and discussions will have already ended” he said. “The train will have already left the station.”

U.S. Rep. Jim Costa (D-Fresno) whose district includes most of Fresno, remains critical of the president’s proposed budget. Costa reiterated comments he made last month when he voted against a previous budget resolution.

Fresnoland also reached out to U.S. Rep. Adam Gray (D-Merced), Vince Fong (R-Bakersfield) and Tom McClintock (R-Elk Grove) for comment on this story. Comments were not immediately made available.

Sharon Williams also echoed the FHA CEO’s sentiments, addressing elected officials directly.

“Don’t you forget the people you promised,” she said. “We are holding you responsible and accountable. Our voice counts. My vote counts.”