Affordable housing professionals are bracing themselves for what may be the most severe period of retrenchment since government became an active participant in urban development. While neither the federal, state, nor city budgets for the coming fiscal year have yet been finalized, deep cuts appear to be on the horizon at all levels of government. At the same time, fundamental changes in state and federal welfare programs portend greater financial stress on both for-profit and not-for-profit providers of low-income housing.