Proposed federal housing cuts could leave local programs in 'a state of triage'
An affordable housing complex in south Minneapolis, owned by the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority, that opened in 2023.
Courtesy of the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority
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Now that President Trump has signed his “Big Beautiful Bill” into law, Congress will shift focus to next year’s budget. Congress is considering some initial budget proposals this week.
Trump’s original budget request to Congress back in May outlined a 44 percent cut to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which oversees federal rental assistance programs and Section 8, or Housing Choice, vouchers.
Dominic Mitchell is the executive deputy director of the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority and joins MPR News host Nina Moini to explain how the proposed cuts would impact his agency as well as renters who use the programs.
Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.
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Audio transcript
NINA MOINI: Now that President Donald Trump has signed his Big Beautiful Bill into law, Congress will now focus on passing next year's budget. Congress is considering some initial proposals this week. Trump's original request to Congress back in May outlined a 44% cut to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, which oversees federal rental assistance programs and Section 8 or Housing Choice vouchers. Dominic Mitchell is the deputy executive director of the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority, and joins me on the line now. Thanks for being here, Dominic.
DOMINIC MITCHELL: Thank you for having me, Nina.
NINA MOINI: Tried to emphasize it there in the intro, this is a proposal right now. I'm sure you all are preparing for it as though it would pass. I'm curious to your reaction when you heard about these cuts initially and if you've been preparing already.
DOMINIC MITCHELL: We have been preparing already. It is quite discouraging, as you might expect. We don't imagine that this is what will boil out in the end. We're very hopeful it will not, but it still is basically a position that's been expressed by the president and a deprioritization, essentially, of a lot of the work that we're doing and the people that we're attempting to serve.
NINA MOINI: Can you give perspective for our listeners about how much federal money does come down to the city? Minneapolis Public Housing Authority, it trickles down to the city. How big of a chunk is this federal money and support that we're talking about, and how is it used?
DOMINIC MITCHELL: Certainly. So we know that the Trump administration's proposed budget would cut nearly $27 billion from HUD's rental assistance programs. That's the Department of Housing and Urban Development that you referenced. This is sweeping, and it covers all of the programs that we all know, including the housing that we own and manage, our public housing throughout the city, and then our Section 8 Housing Choice voucher program. Those are the vouchers that we administer in partnership with the private landlords. And as you referenced, it's a massive, unprecedented cut in the range of 43, 44% across all programs.
NINA MOINI: So I understand you serve nearly 28,000 people. Minneapolis Public Housing Authority is one of the state's biggest landlords in a way. And I think when we talk about all of these cuts that have been going on, or proposed cuts, and budget numbers, I want to make sure to talk about the people at the center of it as well. Are you hearing from people who are relying on housing and who are questioning, how will this impact me? What are you doing to get the word out and talk to the people you serve?
DOMINIC MITCHELL: Yes. Great question. We have fantastic relationships with all of our residents and ongoing communications to talk about what's coming, what's coming for everyone into our future. What we know is that if this budget were enacted, it would require us to cut approximately $60 million from our budget every year, which is just a huge amount. And we know that if that came to pass, of course, we'd have a lot of very difficult choices to make. And we would do that in concert and in work with the residents that we serve.
The largest program that we have here is, of course, our Section 8 Housing Choice voucher program. We administer about 7,200 vouchers across the city, and we work in partnership with 1,000 private owners with that program. And that program serves approximately 20,000 people, including children.
Now, if these cuts actually came to pass, we're looking at probably about a 50% cut for those payments to landlords, because that is our largest line item, is how we assist our Section 8 residents through this rental assistance. And to just imagine, 50% of our households in this program, almost half of the residents are families with children. Imagine the dramatic hit, not only in our efforts to reduce intergenerational poverty, but imagine 10,000 individuals, families suddenly now housing unstable or homeless, facing homelessness for the first time, just in Minneapolis alone. So truly a catastrophic effect.
And that's only looking at Section 8. We have another-- the other side of the house is our public housing program, where we own and manage approximately 6,000 homes. As you referenced, we are among the largest landlords, owners in the state. And these are folks in our high rises. We have 42 buildings throughout the city of Minneapolis.
We're talking the poorest of the poor, Nina. 81% are elderly, so that's 62 and over elderly. Disabled is 60%, and the average income of these households is $14,600. That would be hard for anyone to live on. So imagine taking away any of that, or even what we certainly have to look at is what can we do with the services, the repairs, the security, the management, everything that's needed at those sites. With a 43% cut, we'd certainly have to look at some reductions in those services.
Not to mention that with 42 buildings, we have a work of capital backlogs. These are long-term repairs that-- about $260 million that still needs to be accomplished. We've been underfunded for years by HUD, about $0.10 on the dollar, and so that already wasn't getting better. But imagine a cut now making it just so much worse. We'd be really in a state of triage. It would be just very difficult.
And we're a mission-based organization. And so we're always working with our residents to assist in determining these priorities. But with this kind of cut, the decisions would be very, very difficult.
NINA MOINI: And where would another safety net lie? I mean, would the state step in? How or would people really be put out on the street?
DOMINIC MITCHELL: That's a great question. We have great relationships with the state partners and our county and our local partners with the city of Minneapolis, of course. The state has some options, but they're a little limited. The county is actually charged, through their Continuum of Care, with addressing homelessness.
And so the county here, Hennepin County in our case, would be bearing the brunt of the difficulties that would come with these families, because, of course, before we or any private landlord we're working with evicts a resident, you seek other financial resources wherever they may be available. But those systems are already strapped. And so would be a very challenging time. And I think it would just simply be catastrophic.
NINA MOINI: Just lastly, Dominic, as you're thinking about these different possibilities, what are you doing as an organization to-- are you reaching out to our congressional delegation? It seems like a lot of people's minds are already made up and people are really voting along party lines as things have progressed, for the most part. So what is left to be done there to try to get through to any lawmakers from your perspective?
DOMINIC MITCHELL: That's another great question, Nina. Thank you. We have really great relationships with both Senators Klobuchar and Smith, along with Representative Omar, who represents this district. And they're all very strong supporters of the work that we do.
The work that we do is not easy. It is challenging working with those many residents and participants who need our assistance. And so a lot of what we do when we're working with them is educating them on our needs and the boundaries of what we're able to accomplish, to have conversations, Nina, not unlike this one, where we're telling them what our difficulties would be in the face of all of these cuts. And so, the conversations will continue to happen in force, and we continue to be grateful. I think we'll also be relying on our local partners, the ones I referenced in the city, county, and state, to help us weather some of these cuts.
But we have an excellent team here at the housing authority, and we are certainly determined to carry out our mission for as many families and individuals that we are able to serve. And we're just hopeful that at this point that the House and the Senate produce something that is much less draconian and that is a little bit more reasonable. But we still are, either way, because of where the president's proposed budget landed, we are still preparing for some of these worst case scenarios and having conversations now about what we need to prioritize.
NINA MOINI: All right, Dominic. Thank you very much for stopping by Minnesota Now. We appreciate your time.
DOMINIC MITCHELL: Thank you, Nina.
NINA MOINI: That was Dominic Mitchell, the deputy executive director of the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority.
DOMINIC MITCHELL: Thank you for having me, Nina.
NINA MOINI: Tried to emphasize it there in the intro, this is a proposal right now. I'm sure you all are preparing for it as though it would pass. I'm curious to your reaction when you heard about these cuts initially and if you've been preparing already.
DOMINIC MITCHELL: We have been preparing already. It is quite discouraging, as you might expect. We don't imagine that this is what will boil out in the end. We're very hopeful it will not, but it still is basically a position that's been expressed by the president and a deprioritization, essentially, of a lot of the work that we're doing and the people that we're attempting to serve.
NINA MOINI: Can you give perspective for our listeners about how much federal money does come down to the city? Minneapolis Public Housing Authority, it trickles down to the city. How big of a chunk is this federal money and support that we're talking about, and how is it used?
DOMINIC MITCHELL: Certainly. So we know that the Trump administration's proposed budget would cut nearly $27 billion from HUD's rental assistance programs. That's the Department of Housing and Urban Development that you referenced. This is sweeping, and it covers all of the programs that we all know, including the housing that we own and manage, our public housing throughout the city, and then our Section 8 Housing Choice voucher program. Those are the vouchers that we administer in partnership with the private landlords. And as you referenced, it's a massive, unprecedented cut in the range of 43, 44% across all programs.
NINA MOINI: So I understand you serve nearly 28,000 people. Minneapolis Public Housing Authority is one of the state's biggest landlords in a way. And I think when we talk about all of these cuts that have been going on, or proposed cuts, and budget numbers, I want to make sure to talk about the people at the center of it as well. Are you hearing from people who are relying on housing and who are questioning, how will this impact me? What are you doing to get the word out and talk to the people you serve?
DOMINIC MITCHELL: Yes. Great question. We have fantastic relationships with all of our residents and ongoing communications to talk about what's coming, what's coming for everyone into our future. What we know is that if this budget were enacted, it would require us to cut approximately $60 million from our budget every year, which is just a huge amount. And we know that if that came to pass, of course, we'd have a lot of very difficult choices to make. And we would do that in concert and in work with the residents that we serve.
The largest program that we have here is, of course, our Section 8 Housing Choice voucher program. We administer about 7,200 vouchers across the city, and we work in partnership with 1,000 private owners with that program. And that program serves approximately 20,000 people, including children.
Now, if these cuts actually came to pass, we're looking at probably about a 50% cut for those payments to landlords, because that is our largest line item, is how we assist our Section 8 residents through this rental assistance. And to just imagine, 50% of our households in this program, almost half of the residents are families with children. Imagine the dramatic hit, not only in our efforts to reduce intergenerational poverty, but imagine 10,000 individuals, families suddenly now housing unstable or homeless, facing homelessness for the first time, just in Minneapolis alone. So truly a catastrophic effect.
And that's only looking at Section 8. We have another-- the other side of the house is our public housing program, where we own and manage approximately 6,000 homes. As you referenced, we are among the largest landlords, owners in the state. And these are folks in our high rises. We have 42 buildings throughout the city of Minneapolis.
We're talking the poorest of the poor, Nina. 81% are elderly, so that's 62 and over elderly. Disabled is 60%, and the average income of these households is $14,600. That would be hard for anyone to live on. So imagine taking away any of that, or even what we certainly have to look at is what can we do with the services, the repairs, the security, the management, everything that's needed at those sites. With a 43% cut, we'd certainly have to look at some reductions in those services.
Not to mention that with 42 buildings, we have a work of capital backlogs. These are long-term repairs that-- about $260 million that still needs to be accomplished. We've been underfunded for years by HUD, about $0.10 on the dollar, and so that already wasn't getting better. But imagine a cut now making it just so much worse. We'd be really in a state of triage. It would be just very difficult.
And we're a mission-based organization. And so we're always working with our residents to assist in determining these priorities. But with this kind of cut, the decisions would be very, very difficult.
NINA MOINI: And where would another safety net lie? I mean, would the state step in? How or would people really be put out on the street?
DOMINIC MITCHELL: That's a great question. We have great relationships with the state partners and our county and our local partners with the city of Minneapolis, of course. The state has some options, but they're a little limited. The county is actually charged, through their Continuum of Care, with addressing homelessness.
And so the county here, Hennepin County in our case, would be bearing the brunt of the difficulties that would come with these families, because, of course, before we or any private landlord we're working with evicts a resident, you seek other financial resources wherever they may be available. But those systems are already strapped. And so would be a very challenging time. And I think it would just simply be catastrophic.
NINA MOINI: Just lastly, Dominic, as you're thinking about these different possibilities, what are you doing as an organization to-- are you reaching out to our congressional delegation? It seems like a lot of people's minds are already made up and people are really voting along party lines as things have progressed, for the most part. So what is left to be done there to try to get through to any lawmakers from your perspective?
DOMINIC MITCHELL: That's another great question, Nina. Thank you. We have really great relationships with both Senators Klobuchar and Smith, along with Representative Omar, who represents this district. And they're all very strong supporters of the work that we do.
The work that we do is not easy. It is challenging working with those many residents and participants who need our assistance. And so a lot of what we do when we're working with them is educating them on our needs and the boundaries of what we're able to accomplish, to have conversations, Nina, not unlike this one, where we're telling them what our difficulties would be in the face of all of these cuts. And so, the conversations will continue to happen in force, and we continue to be grateful. I think we'll also be relying on our local partners, the ones I referenced in the city, county, and state, to help us weather some of these cuts.
But we have an excellent team here at the housing authority, and we are certainly determined to carry out our mission for as many families and individuals that we are able to serve. And we're just hopeful that at this point that the House and the Senate produce something that is much less draconian and that is a little bit more reasonable. But we still are, either way, because of where the president's proposed budget landed, we are still preparing for some of these worst case scenarios and having conversations now about what we need to prioritize.
NINA MOINI: All right, Dominic. Thank you very much for stopping by Minnesota Now. We appreciate your time.
DOMINIC MITCHELL: Thank you, Nina.
NINA MOINI: That was Dominic Mitchell, the deputy executive director of the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority.
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