NCDA Washington Report Archives

OCTOBER 31, 1997

FEATURE ARTICLES
President Signs HUD/VA Bill
President Vetoes Two Projects Under the
Economic Development Initiative (EDI) Set-Aside
within the CDBG Account
IDIS Update
Community 2020 Schedule
NCDA Regions I and VI Elects Officers and Board Members
Audrey Nelson Community Development Awards

PRESIDENT SIGNS HUD/VA BILL
On Monday, October 27, the VA/HUD FY98 Appropriations Bill was signed by President Clinton exactly as the Conferees adopted. The President has five days from Monday to exercise the line-item veto on this bill. It is believed that at least some of the special projects within the EDI set-aside will be vetoed (see below). At signing, funding levels remained as reported in the October 8 and October 24 issues of the NCDA Washington Report. Funding for the Community Development Block Grant, (CDBG) is set at $4.675 billion. The level of set asides within the CDBG program remains at $499.8 million, up from $289.6 billion in FY 1997. These set asides represent a 73 percent increase from FY 1997 levels, and an 11 percent cut to the $4.675 billion program allocated to entitlement communities, urban counties, states and insular areas. See chart for funding levels.

The question on everyone's mind is, when will HUD have the list of grantee allocation figures? HUD's data systems office staff have indicated that based on initial estimates, grantees can expect a cut of between 7-11 percent from their FY 1997 allocations. There are new entitlement cities and urban counties to consider before the "run" can take place. Based on past experience, allocation figures are released to grantees during the month of November.

PRESIDENT VETOES TWO PROJECTS UNDER THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE (EDI) SET-ASIDE WITHIN THE CDBG ACCOUNT
On Saturday, President Clinton brought out his veto pen once again to eliminate projects from an appropriations bill. This time it was the HUD/VA bill. Other programs and projects in other parts this bill that were also vetoed, however, to NCDA's members the most pertinent ones relate to the CDBG account. As reported in the October 31 and October 8 issues of The Washington Report the CDBG program was funded at $4.675 billion. However, with the President's veto of two projects totalling $1,015,000, effectively reduces the total CDBG allocation to $4,673,985,000. The projects vetoed were the Carter County Chamber of Commerce Trade and Development project in Carter County, Montana and the Multi-departmental Police Training Facility in Arab, Alabama. Under the line-item veto, any veto of projects or programs reduces the account from which they originate and the funds go back to the U.S. Treasury.

IDIS UPDATE
Approximately 866 entitlement communities are "live" onto IDIS. This is an outstanding achievement. It is also understood that the remaining 109 will go "live" before December 16, 1997. The last communities to go live are primarily those that have HOME program dollars co-mingled with state HOME projects. According to HUD staff in the data systems office, the conversion to IDIS for entitlement communities is quickly winding down. The system has undergone a lot of change, however it is quickly becoming one that is stable, meaning that the changes or improvements to come will offer more data and report manipulation, than changes of an operational nature. Future plans for the system include more capability to download report data to individual PC's, and greater use of the Electronic Data Interchange method of getting report information to HUD without requiring duplicate entries by grantee staff.

COMMUNITY 2020 SOFTWARE (FORMERLY KNOWN AS CPS+) UPDATE

Schedule of training dates and sites for "Community 2020"

Please call 1-800-998-9999 (Community Connections) for registration and site information.

Reminder:

The NCDA Washington Report is now available on the internet! Just point your browser to http://www.ncdaonline.org

NCDA's new e-mail address is ncda@ncdaonline.org -- DO WE HAVE YOURS?

NCDA REGIONS I AND VI ELECTS OFFICERS AND BOARD MEMBERS
We are pleased to report newly-elected officers and national board members for NCDA Regions I and VI. Elections were held during the region's Annual Meeting in McAllen, Texas (Region VI) on October 23^rd and Springfield, Massachusetts (Region I) on October 16 - 17^th.

Region I Officers

Chairperson: Edward (Ned) Handy, Cambridge, MA
Vice-Chair: Nancy Remington, East Providence, RI
Secretary-Treasurer: Stephen D. Gartrell, Newton, MA

NCDA Region I National Board Members

Amintha Cinotti, Providence, RI
Stephen D. Gartrell, Newton, MA
Edward (Ned) Handy, Cambridge, MA
Thomas Phillips, Hartford, CT
Nancy Remington, East Providence, RI
Angelito Santos, Quincy, MA

Region VI Officers

Chair: Bill Tolbert, Dallas, TX
Senior Vice Chair: Pam Glorioso, Bossier City, LA
Vice Chair, Legislative: Edgar Bernard, Kenner, LA
Vice Chair, Membership & Nominations: Michael Passi, Albuquerque, NM
Secretary-Treasurer: Mary Dominquez, Odessa, TX

NCDA Region VI National Board Members

Bill Tolbert, Dallas, TX
Pam Glorioso, Bossier City, LA
Edgar Bernard, Kenner, LA
Linda Price, Norman, OK
Michael Passi, Albuquerque, NM
Brenda Richard-Montgomery, Jefferson Parish, LA

AUDREY NELSON COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AWARDS
The nomination period for the Audrey Nelson Community Development Achievement Awards applications is drawing near. All applications must be postmarked by November 7^th. Award recipients, along with their nominating communities will be notified by December 8, 1997.

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