Monday, Sep 12 2011 1:50PM

The House of Representatives' Appropriations Committee recently approved the fiscal year 2012 budgets for several government agencies, including the Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

The approved legislation provides $55.15 billion in discretionary spending for the government agencies — nearly $20 billion below President Barack Obama's request and $217 million below fiscal year 2011's budget.

Members of the Appropriations Committee lauded the budget for the next fiscal year, though, stating it will help Americans in need of financial assistance, including Subcommittee Chariman Tom Latham.

"With this bill, we were able to meet a number of priorities — preserve the funding for every person and family currently receiving an assisted housing benefit; maintain our investments in aviation and other transportation and safety systems; continue community development programs; and improve the oversight and transparency of taxpayer dollars while setting priorities and reducing spending," said Latham.

However, one HUD program that will receive considerably less funding in fiscal year 2012 than the year before is the HOME Investment Partnerships Program. In fiscal year 2011, the initiative received $1.61 billion in funding. The program will receive just $1.2 billion in fiscal year 2012.