FY26 Healthy Homes Appropriations: The Final Update (We Think)

by Sarah Goodwin

It’s a new calendar year, but we’ve been in a new federal fiscal year since October—and we’re here with what we’re pretty sure is the final update about healthy homes funding in that fiscal year (FY26). If you weren’t avid followers of this process last year, you can find a writeup of the whole saga on our blog, which we updated several times between July and November.

Since November

Where we last left off: After a prolonged government shutdown, the House and Senate passed a continuing resolution to fund the government through January 30, 2026.

What’s happened since: In mid-January, the chambers reached agreement on nearly all the remaining appropriations bills, including those we’re watching. The Interior bill, which includes EPA funding, was signed into law on January 23, meaning that EPA is now funded through September. The Labor-HHS and THUD bills were passed through the House on January 22.

What’s next: As we publish this, on Tuesday, February 3, we’re waiting on the House of Representatives and then the president. The remaining bills passed through the Senate on Friday, January 30. Because the Senate amended the bill, it needs to pass the House again before being signed by the president—meaning that we are currently in partial government shutdown that started over the weekend, with the House expected to finish passing the bills this afternoon. Upon passage and signature, the programs we track in HUD and CDC will have full-year funding, along with all other federal programs except those under the Department of Homeland Security (which is expected to receive a two-week continuing resolution).

What’s in the Bills?

Fortunately, the healthy homes provisions in the final bills look much more like the Senate (and to a lesser extent, House) versions of these bills than like the president’s budget request from last year. Here is an overview of what we’re seeing:

Agencies at a Glance

Department of Housing and Urban Development: Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes

The bill includes $295.6 million for OLHCHH, the same as both chambers’ bills. This is a number that can either be considered a cut or level funding, depending on how you look at it—it’s the same as the amount of new funding from the last couple years, but previous years had an overall funding level of $345 million achieved by reallocating previous funds.

• The bill includes $140 million for healthy homes (level funding); this total includes $30 million for the older adults home modification program.
• The healthy homes line item also includes $10 million for the National Lead Safe and Healthy Homes Fund financing pilot—a big win for our partners at LFAN, who have been leading the charge to secure funding for this pilot for years!
• There is no funding included for lead technical studies. (The office may still be able to support healthy housing technical studies out of the healthy homes line.)
• Funding for radon grants in public housing, previously allocated to this office, is shifted over to the public housing fund.
• There is $9 million for staffing for OLHCHH, a decrease of about $2 million.

Centers for Disease Control and Development: National Center for Environmental Health

• The bill includes level funding for all three programs we track:
  • Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program (level funded at $51 million).
  • National Asthma Control Program (level funded at $33.5 million).
  • National Environmental Public Health Tracking Network (level funded at $34 million).
  • The bill even includes a continued $10 million for Climate and Health, which had been eliminated in the House.
• There is some bill language regarding staffing levels at HHS and CDC:
  • SEC. 239. The Department of Health and Human Services shall support staffing levels necessary to fulfill its statutory responsibilities including carrying out programs, projects, and activities funded in this title of this Act in a timely manner: Provided, That the Secretary shall submit a detailed plan and justification to the Committees on Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the Senate, and make publicly available to allow for an independent review not less than 60 days prior to initiating the execution of any reorganization moving functions, pursuant to any authorities otherwise provided, carried out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to another component of the Department of Health and Human Services, relative to how such functions are funded in this Act.

Environmental Protection Agency

Overall, for the items we track, the EPA provisions look much more like the Senate bill than the House bill, with one exception in that the Senate had included $40 million for environmental justice grants that are not found in the final bill.

• The Indoor Air and Radiation Program has a small cut of about $500,000. I can’t tell you that’s level funding, but it’s much better than what was in the President’s budget or the House bill.
• The Toxics Risk Review and Prevention line item was cut by $17 million, or about 13%. This line item includes the Lead Risk Reduction Program. Because of how this bill is written, we’re not sure whether those cuts will carry over to the lead program.
• The Children and Other Sensitive Populations line item is level funded.
• There is level funding for both the Radon and Lead Categorical Grants—these grants go directly to states.

What’s Next?

The great wheel of the appropriations cycle never stops turning: Assuming the final bills pass as expected, it will soon be time for the process to start all over again. We expect to see the President’s budget released roughly around the time of the State of the Union, later in February. Meanwhile, the House and Senate Appropriations Committees will begin organizing themselves to figure out their plan for FY27.

As with previous years, the National Safe and Healthy Housing Coalition will be putting forward appropriations requests for healthy housing this spring, and offering our members an opportunity to participate in advocacy at our annual Hill Day. This year, we will be hosting virtual visits on April 21 and 22. Sign up to participate in the 2026 Hill Day here.

Sarah Goodwin joined NCHH as a policy analyst in June 2017. She previously served NCHH as a policy intern, helping to establish and run the Find It, Fix It, Fund It lead action drive and its work groups. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Interdisciplinary Studies: Communications, Legal Institutions, Economics, and Government from American University.