Community Development Block Grant Equity Act of 2025

This bill revises the formula used to allocate Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds to metropolitan cities, urban counties, and states, and authorizes appropriations for fiscal years 2026 through 2029. It amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 to change how grant amounts are calculated based on specific poverty and housing factors.

Sec. 2, CDBG formula revision: The bill replaces the existing allocation formula for metropolitan cities and urban counties with a new formula based on the average of four ratios: poverty rate per person in families and elderly households, extent of female-headed households with children under 18, extent of pre-1950 housing occupied by a household in poverty, and extent of housing overcrowding. The poverty ratio is counted five times, the pre-1950 housing ratio three times, and the other ratios once each. The same formula applies to state allocations for nonentitlement areas. The bill also updates the definition of 'poverty' to mean income not exceeding the poverty level and removes several obsolete definitions.

Sec. 3, Authorization of appropriations: The bill authorizes $3,425,000,000 for fiscal year 2026, adjusted for inflation based on the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U). For each of fiscal years 2026 through 2029, the authorized amount is the prior year's amount, also adjusted for CPI-U increases.