CUOMO SAILS THROUGH NOMINATION HEARING, ACCOLADES ABOUND

On January 22, 1997 the Senate Banking and Financial Services Committee conducted a nomination hearing for Secretary - Designate Andrew Cuomo. He was met with accolades and praises regarding his prior efforts at HUD and avoided any controversial or combative questioning. However, several senators did warn Cuomo that the Department will continue to receive close scrutiny and be forced to work with fewer resources.

Senator Alfonse D'Amato (R-NY), Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee commended Mr. Cuomo for his record of public service, as President and founder of Housing Enterprises for the Less Privileged (HELP) and as HUD Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development. He also cited that the position of HUD Secretary is one of the toughest in government. According to Senator D'Amato even though, the General Accounting Office (GAO) has given Secretary Cisneros and his staff justly deserved credit for notably improving HUD, the Department still faces a fiscal crisis. Senator D'Amato concluded his statement by indicating that he expected a speedy confirmation and urged his fellow Senators to approve this nomination quickly.

Andrew Cuomo's comments included a sincere and heartfelt statement of appreciation to Secretary Cisneros for his leadership, vision, and commitment, calling him, " the best secretary in the history of HUD." He referred to the challenges that lie ahead for America's communities and how he will look to "real solutions found in local communities -- through local partnerships and local initiatives."

Cuomo also noted that " we must be willing to admit that some programs don't work" and that "government must be smarter, smaller and better." He concluded his statement before the Senate Banking Committee stating that HUD must "get its own house in order" and will continue to work on more effective management and financial accountability.

The full Banking Committee is scheduled to meet on January 28 to approve the nomination. The recommendation will then go to the Senate floor for a final vote in early February.

LAZIO KICKS OFF 105TH CONGRESS WITH PUBLIC HOUSING REFORM AND HOMELESS CONSOLIDATION LEGISLATION

In an effort to come out of the gates running on housing and community development issues, Representative Rick Lazio (R-NY), Chairman of the House Banking Subcommittee on Housing and Community Development introduced H.R. 2, the "Housing Opportunity and Responsibility Act of 1997" and H.R. 217, the "Homeless Housing Programs Consolidation and Flexibility Act", on January 7, 1997, only days after the 105th Congress opened session. H.R. 2 is a public housing reform bill very similar to H.R. 2406 which was never completed in the last Congress, while H.R. 217 is a consolidation of the homeless McKinney programs. Both bills have been referred to Representative Lazio's Subcommittee for review and will be taken up later this winter or in early spring.

H.R. 2 - "Housing Opportunity and Responsibility Act of 1997"
H.R. 2 is very similar to the public housing reform measure, H.R. 2406, which failed passage last year. Once again, the Lazio public housing reform bill:

• deregulates public housing authorities;
• creates two block grants, one for public housing capital and one for operating expenses;
• increases PHA accountability;
• provides HUD with substantial tools to treat troubled public housing authorities more quickly and efficiently; provides incentives for residents who work; and,
• consolidates the certificate and voucher programs.

The new bill still contains the provision which permits the Secretary of HUD to withhold Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds from a local government if the local public housing authority within its jurisdiction is designated by HUD as "troubled" and the Department determines that the local government has contributed to this troubled condition. It also persists in the repeal of the U.S. Housing Act of 1937, a more symbolic than substantive aspect of the bill which met with considerable opposition from the Democrats last year and is likely to again.

The most noteworthy changes to the bill include: the allowance for local governments to consolidate public housing and tenant-based assistance into a single block grant to fund a local housing plan that would be driven at the local level and provide increased flexibility among the programs; and, a compromise position on the Brooke Amendment which would give tenants the choice of paying 30% of their income toward rent or a flat rent to the public housing authority.

H.R. 217 - "Homeless Housing Programs Consolidation and Flexibility Act"
Although, H.R. 217 conceptually resembles H.R 3964, a bill of the same name introduced by Representative Lazio in August of 1996, it does not include many of the objectionable components that were contained in its predecessor. Key contents of the bill include:

• A portion of the funds will be allocated on a competitive basis for Permanent Housing Development Grants. The portion allocated for competition will be 20% of the total appropriation for homeless assistance in the first year of consolidation and increase after four years to 30% of the total and remain there;
  
• The remaining funds will be allocated by formula - 70% to localities, 30% to states for the Flexible Block Grant;
  
• Use of the CDBG/ESG formula for distribution of the Flexible Block Grant;
  
• The permanent housing development grants can fund construction, substantial rehabilitation, or acquisition for permanent housing, while the flexible block grants can be used for acquisition and rehab. for supportive housing, and other activities currently allowable under McKinney programs, although emergency shelter assistance is limited to 10% of the aggregate flexible block grant amount;
  
• If the appropriation drops below $750 million, the program will revert to an entirely competitive grant process;
  
• Eligible activities can be carried out directly by the state or locality or by someone given a grant;
  
• Calls for a 50% match unless the grant is less than $100,000 in which case it will be 0. Localities may require a subgrantee to supplement grant funds up to 25% of the grant amount, however these supplemental funds can not be used toward the match;
  
• 50% or more of the Flexible Block Grant funds must be passed through to nonprofits;
  
• 5% allowance for administrative expenses;
  
• Establishment of a local board, which is nominated by persons outside of government, to assist the locality in deciding who should administer the grant, develop the application, oversee the activities and prepare the performance report. This board does not have final authority over the grant; and,
  
• 30% cap on supportive services provided through the Flexible Block Grant for year one of the consolidated program, decreasing to 15% cap for supportive services in year 4 and thereafter.
  
• Representative Lazio also introduced a third bill, "The 1997 Homeowners Insurance Availability Act", H.R. 219, which authorizes the Treasury Department to offer annual federal reinsurance contracts to eligible state insurance programs to help assist families whose homes have been damaged or destroyed as a result of natural disasters.
  
• Consolidation of CDBG and HOME

In comments provided by Joseph Ventrone, Deputy Staff Director of the House Banking and Financial Services Committee during NCDA's Winter Meeting held January 17-19, he said, "the Committee may have gone out too fast in the 104th Congress, on comprehensive consolidation of HUD's programs, such as HOME and CDBG" and the Committee had no immediate plans for such a consolidation in the 105th. He did not state that the issue was dead, but merely indicated that it was on the back burner for now, to be considered, perhaps at a later date. According to Mr. Ventrone, Representative Lazio's legislative focus at this point in time is primarily public housing, the consolidation of the homeless assistance programs and multifamily portfolio reengineering.

Next Steps
The Senate has not yet introduced a companion measure to either H.R. 2 or H.R. 217, but are likely to do so in the next several months. Both the House and the Senate are awaiting Subcommittee designations before they proceed with hearings and the consideration of any authorization bills. There are several new members on both the House and the Senate Banking Committees and it remains to be seen how many of them will be chosen to sit on the housing and community development related subcommittees. All speculation is that this Congress will proceed more slowly than it did in 1994 and authorization activity will not gear up until early spring.

ISTOOK AMENDMENT/NONPROFIT GAG RULE APPEARS AGAIN

On the first day of the 105th Congress Representative David McIntosh (R-IN) introduced the "Taxpayer Protection and Money Laundering Prevention Act of 1997", H.R. 233, a bill designed to amend the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995. H.R. 233 simply states that a 501(c)(4) organization or affiliated organization which engages in lobbying activities shall not be eligible for Federal funds.

This bill takes last years more moderate "Simpson Amendment" on lobbying disclosure to an extreme. The Simpson Amendment currently prohibits 501(c)(4)'s that receive federal funds from lobbying. However, the Simpson Amendment allows 501(c)(4)'s that receive federal funds to affiliate with organizations that lobby. H.R. 233 would prevent lobbying by any organizations, such as 501(c)(3)'s , which are affiliated with a 501(c)(4) that receives federal grants. Therefore, the new Istook/McIntosh bill may have an impact on the activities of organizations such as NCDA or other local affiliations that conduct advocacy activities.

The bill has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee and it is unclear whether or not it will move forward, particularly because this is not a primary issue for the Judiciary Committee. NCDA will keep a watch out on the issue and provide updates as appropriate.

NCDA MEETS WITH HUD ON SECTION 108 UNDERWRITING GUIDELINES

On Thursday, January 16 members of the NCDA 108 task force and other practitioners met with HUD regarding the new underwriting guidelines for the Section 108 program currently being developed by Price Waterhouse through a contract with HUD. NCDA formed a task force last spring following the NCDA Annual Conference in San Francisco, to work with HUD on the development of new guidelines for the securitization of the CDBG Section 108 loan guarantee program. HUD convened this meeting in response to a request from the task force made last summer.

According to HUD, the reason for HUD's recent requirements for increased collatoralization and securitization of the Section 108 loans is due to: 1) passage of the 1990 Credit Reform Act; and, 2) recent increased pressure by OMB being placed on federal agencies to uphold the Credit Reform Act.

In 1990, Congress passed the Federal Credit Reform Act which requires federal agencies to estimate the subsidy cost of loan guarantee programs. From its passage in 1990 through 1995, the Reform Act had little impact on the CDBG Section 108 program since technically the program had a 0 default rate because communities used CDBG funds to back the loans. However, in FY96 the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) expressed concern with the costs associated with the pledge of future CDBG funds, particularly in light of the expansion of the program and the uncertainty of the availability of future federal funds, including CDBG resources.

According to HUD, in FY96 OMB disallowed grantees from relying on future block grant funds to guarantee the 108 program and limited the allowable loss revenues on Section 108 to no more than 2.3% of the total program allocation. As a result, HUD was forced to administer the 108 program in a much more conservative/risk aversive atmosphere in which the underwriting criteria was limited to, at a maximum a 90% loss to value (LTV) ratio. Due to the restriction placed upon the program by OMB, HUD contracted with Price Waterhouse to develop new underwriting criteria, guidelines and a pricing models for 108, with the new constraints in mind. These guidelines, which were released last week in draft form, are meant to help communities sort out projects according to risk, provide guidance on what HUD expects in additional security when committing funds to moderate and high risk projects and carve out a role for financial advisors in review these projects. With these changes local governments will have to pledge additional security for most Section 108 endeavors, inevitably making many projects financially infeasible or politically unacceptable.

The criteria they have developed deals in categories such as:

Low Risk
1.25 Debt Cost Ratio (DCR)
75% loss to value (LTV)

Mod. Risk
1.15 - 1.25 DCR
80% LTV

High Risk
1.05 - 1.15 DCR
90% LTV

The final draft guidelines and a corresponding computer pricing model will be provided in final draft form for comment to grantees within the next 3-4 weeks. In the meantime, the NCDA task force will provide in depth comments to HUD and will continue to keep the membership abreast on the project.

During the course of the session local practitioners voiced their concerns and questions to HUD. Although, they found the actual contents of the Price Waterhouse guidelines to be rational and reasonable, it was the motivation behind them that is disturbing. The predominate concern was that if HUD were to implement these new underwriting requirements, many localities would be forced to reduce -- if not eliminate -- loans to projects considered moderately or highly risky. The participants stated that this marks a substantial shift in policy for the Section 108 program as it has operated in the past and been marketed more recently. With the constraints placed upon it by OMB, the 108 program is no longer the lender of last resort and can no longer be used for the more substantive revitalization projects. NCDA members impressed upon HUD that they must acknowledge this significant shift in policy and if they are not inclined to fight OMB on this issue than they must, at a minimum, alter their approach and marketing of the program accordingly.

It is unclear at this time, what changes, if any, HUD will make to Price Waterhouse's draft guidelines before the Department releases them in interim form, either in the Federal Register or through a HUD Notice. In addition, HUD has not yet stated how these guidelines will govern the program in the future -- i.e., whether they will be implemented in the form of guidance or requirements. If you are interested in receiving a copy of the draft guidelines, please contact Margaret McGilvray, NCDA, (202) 293-7587. NCDA will continue to work with HUD, OMB, and Congress to address this issue and welcome your comments.

HUD UPDATE

On Friday, January 17 a team of HUD Officials attended the NCDA Winter Meeting to provide a programmatic and regulatory update on the CDBG, HOME, and Homeless Assistance programs as well as the Consolidated Plan and CPD reporting requirements. The speakers included: Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy Development, Paul Leonard; Dick Kennedy, Director of Block Grant Assistance; Deirdre Maguire-Zinni, Director of Entitlement Communities; Gordon McKay, Director of Affordable Housing Programs; Mark Johnston, Deputy Director of the Office of Special Needs Assistance Programs; and, Joseph Smith, Director of the Policy Coordination Unit.

Paul Leonard opened the session by discussing some of the successes of the Department over the past four years, such as: the superb record and level of activity exhibited by the HOME program; the development of the Continuum-of- Care; the institution of the Consolidated Plan, the new technological breakthroughs in mapping and the benefits it has brought to improved citizen participation; the demolition of public housing units and progressive reforms of the public housing system; new activities in homeownership; and, a general drop in the poverty rate nationwide. However, he also acknowledged the challenges that lie ahead for the Department in terms of budget constraints, pressure as a result of welfare reform and the on-going lack of regard by some members of Congress for HUD and its programs.

Following the themes laid out by Paul Leonard, Dick Kennedy of the Office of Block Grant Assistance briefly referred to HUD-CPD's on-going efforts to foster locally driven performance measurements. He too noted that as a result of welfare reform, the CDBG program and other HUD programs will receive further pressure to develop job creation activities over the next several years.

Below are some of the highlights from the programmatic presentations.

Community Development Block Grant
Deirdre Maguire-Zinni briefly reviewed the components of the August 7, 1996 notice which summarized the transition provisions that govern parts of the CDBG final rule which was published in the Federal Register on November 9, 1995. (A copy of the transition notice was provided in the NCDA Washington Report 9/6/96.) She went onto indicate that the Office of Block Grant Assistance is in the process of finalizing several guides and a final rule. These include:

• Desk Guide to CDBG - a laymans handbook to the basics of the CDBG program eligible activities and national objectives;
  
• CDBG Performance Reporting User Guide Sanctions Final Rule - CPD is continuing to work on the final rule for dispute resolution and enforcement actions, otherwise known as the "sanctions rule", which was published in proposed form on September 26, 1996. The final rule is expected out sometime in early spring.

Ms. Maguire-Zinni also provided several statistics for the program stating that according to a HUD report from December 10, 1996, 78% of the grantees met the timeliness requirement of 1.5, an additional 210 grantees were at 1.5 to 2.0 and approximately 80 were at 2.0 or more. As you know, the CDBG program requires grantees to have no more than 1.5% of their current grant amount in their line of credit at any given time and this is used to determine timely spending in the program. The one fault to the measurement is that depending upon the scheduling of your commitments versus your expenditures, the timing of the measurement could catch the CDBG account just prior to payments and portray a different picture than if the measurement were taken later in the month or at a different time of year. Ms. Maguire-Zinni also urged grantees to spend their CDBG funds in a timely manner, as critics of the CDBG program have often referred to its "slow-spending nature."

Joe Smith, Director of the Policy Coordination Unit then went on to discuss CPD's new Grant Management System (GMS), essentially an overhaul of the grant management process as a result of the Consolidated Plan and subsequent changes to the reporting mechanisms. The seven primary components of the GMS are: consultation between HUD Field staff and grantees; submission and review of the consolidated plan and action plan by HUD; 12-point internal HUD assessment; program management and support to grantees; annual performance report and community assessment; program year review letter; and, annual comparative review between grantees.

Mr. Smith noted that HUD has developed this improved grants management system in an attempt to address some of the Department's "management flaws". He shared with the group that HUD is the only federal department with a "high risk status", ranked as such due to its "material weaknesses" in management and reporting. One of CPD's primary goals in the next two years is to remove itself from this ranking and address the material weaknesses cited by GAO.

HOME Investment Partnerships Program
At the HUD Briefing Session, Gordon McKay, Director of HUD's Affordable Housing Programs, gave a succinct update on the HOME program and related issues. HOME received wide praise throughout the past year, and has not been targeted for any cuts, largely due to the success that the program has had in targeting and meeting local needs. Mr. McKay announced that a training session is being developed by ICF, Inc, a national consulting firm, to give guidance on the changes to the HOME rule and the impacts on the local level. The date of this training has not yet been announced. HUD is also in the process of issuing guidance on working with HOME and Fannie Mae, the date of issuance is still pending. Finally, the HOME office will be issuing guidance in the near future regarding HOME and CHDO's, currently they are in the process of locating case studies to include in the document. NCDA will keep you up to date on each of these issues as they unfold.

Special Needs/Homeless Assistance Programs
Mark Johnston, Deputy Director of the Office of Special Needs Assistance Programs, in his update on HUD's Homeless Program, stressed HUD's focus on providing permanent housing options, rather than emergency shelter. He further highlighted HUD's ongoing commitment to the involvement of cities, communities and nonprofits in coordinating their continuum of care proposals. He noted the use of HOME and CDBG dollars in addition to homeless funds has proven extremely successful in the past and they hope to see more results in the future. Mr. Johnston also indicated his confidence in receiving appropriations totalling $823 million, a freeze from FY96 levels, including $115 million for Emergency Shelter Grants. He went on to announce that the 1997 competition will look much like the 1996 one, with priorities placed on community identification of priorities and types of housing provided. Finally, Mr. Johnston indicated that the Shelter Plus Care program has stalled efforts on the local level somewhat, and needs a push to move forward to provide additional results. The Shelter Plus Care program addresses the critical need for housing for those persons with disabilities.

NCDA MEMBERS ARE UPDATED ON HUD'S MULTIFAMILY PORTFOLIO REENGINEERING DEMONSTRATION AT WINTER MEETING

At the session titled Multifamily Portfolio Reengineering Update, the speakers included Dan Burke from Chicago Community Development Corporation, John Murphy, Association of Local Housing Finance Agencies, and Erica Dobreff, HUD Special Assistant for Multifamily Housing. The session was moderated by NCDA member Tom McColgan, Community Development Commissioner from Springfield, Massachusetts.

Dan Burke began the session with a background on the updated reengineering proposal and the issue of market rents. He stressed the importance of knowing your Fair Market Rents for particular Section 8 projects as well as what HUD is currently contracting to pay. Mr. Burke also stressed the importance of knowing which Section 8 portfolio is being addressed, the older assisted or the newer assisted, this particular difference is acknowledged in the new demonstration program.

In discussing the particulars of the new demonstration, Mr. Burke described the options for property owners if HUD does not renew the Section 8 contract as being predevelopment resources or HUD's opting out sale program. It is important to note though that currently all state agency financed projects will be renewed for a period of one year, this time period has become the life-span of all Section 8 contracts coming up for renewal. If an owner opted to go through HUD's debt restructuring, new Section 8 contracts with contract rents at the street level would be renewed for longer periods. Mr. Burke described HUD's debt forgiveness option as a way in which HUD could just forgive the debt on projects. This option could be useful for nonprofits, who would not then be faced with tax issues.

Finally, Mr. Burke pointed out that the portfolio reengineering process could provide a significant opportunity for local governments, in that HUD would give localities the right of first refusal, thus creating an opportunity to gain property to increase affordable housing stock.

John Murphy, Executive Director of ALHFA gave an overview of the positions taken by similar housing and community development associations regarding the proposal. They are:

1. limiting the proposal to rents above Fair Market Value (roughly 60-66% of inventory) 2. preservation of housing stock 3. protect owners from adverse tax consequences 4. renew all insurance on mortgages 5. provision of adequate resources for long term fix 6. broader income mix in projects 7. continuation of project based assistance 8. provision of rehabilitation funds to preserve stock

Erica Dobreff, Special Assistant at HUD gave the HUD perspective of the proposal in the following points:

1. HUD recognizes the temporary nature of the proposal, and the bottom line is that most of the contracts expiring in bulk will occur in the years 1998-2000. She indicated that by the first week of February guidelines will be issued in the Federal Register.

2. The demo is still currently voluntary

3. No section 8 authority will be given beyond 1 year due to Congressional constraints

4. The long term affordability of the property will be stressed

5. The option of budget based rents will be based upon operating costs

6. HUD is interested in rehab funding through rehab loans or grants

7. Tax consequences are still yet to be determined

8. By February 15th, all interested parties planning to participate in the demo should send a letter indicating interest to HUD

Ms. Dobreff went on to describe HUD's vision of the HFA role as a joint venture opportunity between local housing authorities or local governments, based upon expertise. She also stressed the increased role of HUD area offices as contact points, nine of which have been designated in: Seattle, San Francisco, Denver, Houston, Kansas City, Cleveland, Atlanta, Pittsburgh, and Buffalo.

NCDA JOINS WITH COALITION OF 51 GROUPS ON IMPACT OF WELFARE REFORM ON HOUSING

On January 8, NCDA joined 51 national organizations in sponsoring a press conference to announce the "Statement and Recommendations on Housing and Welfare Reform" developed by the Housing and Welfare Reform Task Force, of which NCDA is a member.

NCDA and the other national organizations voiced their concern that welfare reform will exacerbate the existing affordable housing crisis in America as evidenced by increased homelessness and housing problems that are already surfacing in Wisconsin and Michigan where welfare reform has been implemented.

The coalition issued a joint statement calling upon the Clinton Administration and Congress to support "a HUD budget for FY98 and beyond that is sufficient, not only to fund existing (FY97) activities and renew expiring Section 8 contracts, but also to increase housing assistance to those whose incomes decline due to changes in welfare status, to those who are trying to leave welfare for work, to those who are homeless and other poor and elderly households.

A December 13 HUD report estimates that welfare reform will raise the department's budget requirements to maintain current commitments of housing assistance by an additional $2.3 billion between 1997 and 2002. That funding is currently not included in HUD's budget. Despite this report, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has recommended an additional $1 billion reduction in the HUD budget, which Congress already has cut by 25 percent over the past two fiscal years. In addition, both the Administration and Congress have remained silent about any intentions with regard to the impending expiration of many existing Section 8 housing contracts.

The report goes on further to estimate that approximately 1.5 million HUD- assisted tenants of the total 4.5 million served receive either Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) or Social Security Income (SSI) or both. According to HUD, it is precisely these families who will require greater federal housing subsidies.

Representatives from the National League of Cities, the National Association of Counties and tenant populations provided vivid examples of how welfare reform is already effecting the poorest citizens in their communities and the economics of their neighborhoods.

For a copy of the report and further information on the effects of welfare reform on housing and community development call, Margaret McGilvray, at NCDA, (202) 293-7587.

FHA LOAN LIMITS INCREASED AS OF JANUARY 1, 1997

FHA's loan limits were increased as of January 1, 1997, providing a new "floor" of one unit, $81,548; two units $104,329; three units, $126,103; four units, $156,731. The floor represents the maximum mortgage loan FHA will insure in jurisdictions that are not considered high-cost areas. The floor is the effective loan limit in 2,300 counties across the nation.

In high-cost areas, the loan limit remains equal to 95% of area median house price. The "high-cost area limit" is applicable in any area in which that 95% amount exceeds the floor.

FHA's "ceiling" on the high-cost area limit will increase to: one unit, $160,950; two units, $205,912; three units, $248,887; four units, $309,337. The ceiling is a figure above which the high-cost area limit cannot go, regardless of area median house price. FHA's loan limits are tied by law to a percentage of the mortgage limits set by Freddie Mac. In December, Freddie Mac announced that its mortgage limits for 1997 will increase to $214,600 for a single-family home. Congress set the FHA floor at 38% and the FHA ceiling at 75% of the Freddie Mac Limit.

SATELLITE BROADCAST TRAINING FOR NEIGHBORHOOD DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATIONS

HUD has tentatively scheduled a distance learning/capacity building training session on April 8 and 9, 1997. This training is targeted to John Heinz Neighborhood Development Program nonprofit neighborhood-based development organizations. This training will be broadcast to HUD locations around the country.

Registration information will be forthcoming in a February fax broadcast. If you have further questions, contact John Smith at Community Connections 1-800-998- 9999 x5280.

NATIONAL COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT WEEK '97 COMING SOON!!

National Community Development week arrives early this year and requires your community to gear up now!! A packet of materials for CD Week was provided for you in the December 18 edition of the NCDA Washington Report. The materials included were: the 1997 National Community Development Week Guidebook; the National Community Development Week '97 Commitment Form; the 1997 CDBG Postcard; and the 1997 CDBG Poster/Postcard/T-Shirt Order Form. If you did not receive any of these materials please contact NCDA as soon as possible.

The Celebration of CD Week should be an important part of your annual CDBG program. Be sure to participate in this important national effort, publicize the successes of the CDBG program locally, get the word out broadly and be sure to make NCDA aware of your activities. (Additional Poster/Postcard/T-Shirt Order Form included in this mailing.)

FEDERAL REGISTER NOTICES

Interim Rule: Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) Book Entry Procedures Revisions - FR 61 63944 - 63949, 12/2/96. This interim rule revises procedures that govern the issuance, recordation, and transfer of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac securities in the book-entry system.

Notice of Demonstration Program and Invitation to Apply for Public and Indian Housing/Section 8 Moving to Work Demonstration - FR 61 66855 - 66861, 12/18/96 - This notice invites applications for Public and Indian Housing Agencies for participation in the "Moving to Work" demonstration program. HUD is authorized to select up to 30 HA's. Applications must be submitted prior to March 18, 1997 and must be submitted to HUD headquarters.

Extension of Small Business Competitiveness Demonstration Program - FR 61 67422, 12/20/96 - Extension of the Small Business Competitiveness Demonstration Program until September 30, 1997.

Availability of Funds: Economic Development Assistance Programs - FR 61 67433 - 67437, 12/20/96 - The Economic Development Administration (EDA) announces its policies and application procedures for FY97. $328.5 million in FY96 are available for EDA programs. Interested parties should contact the EDA office in their area and/or Washington, DC.

Availability of Funds: Economic Development Assistance Program for Disaster Recovery Activities - FR 61 67439 - 67441, 12/20/96 - The Economic Development Administration (EDA) announces its policies and application procedures for funds available to support disaster recovery projects in the States of North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico as a result of Hurricanes Fran and Hortense and other natural disasters. $25 million in FY96 funds are available and are broken down by state.

Announcement of Funding Awards for Federally Assisted Low Income Housing Drug Elimination Grants for FY96 - FR 61 68276 - 68284, 12/27/96 - The awards total $17,662,362 for 161 applicants.

Announcement of Funding Awards for FY96 for Section 8 Family Self-Sufficiency Program Coordinators - FR 61 68763 - 68772, 12/30/96 - The awards total $9,316,949 for 289 applicant housing authorities.

Interim Rule: Public Housing Management Assessment Program - FR 61 68893-68950, 12/30/97 - This interim rule implements the proposed revision published on May 6, 1996 of the Public Housing Management Assessment Program (PHMAP). Effective January 29, 1997.

Interim Final Rule: Small Business Administration - FR 61 301-302, 1/3/97 - Section 103(c) of the Small Business Programs Improvement Act of 1996 enacted on September 30, 1996, authorizes SBA to continue its Low Documentation (LowDoc) loan program through lenders with significant experience in making small business loans. This interim rule implements such provisions.

Notice on Site-Based Waiting Lists - FR 62 1025 -1029, 1/7/97 - This notice invites certain public housing agencies to request approval of tenant selection and assignment plans that vary from general program requirements in order to implement site-based waiting lists at public housing sites under certain circumstances. Comments are due March 10, 1997.

Proposed Rule: Implementation of the Housing for Older Persons Act of 1995 - FR 62 1999 - 2005, 1/14/97 - The proposed rule would implement the Housing for Older Persons Act of 1995 (HOPA). HOPA amended the requirements for qualification under the "housing for older persons" exemption established in the Fair Housing Act. Comments must be received on or before March 17, 1997.

Proposed Rule: Small Business Size Regulations and Government Contracting Assistance Regulations; Very Small Business Concern - FR 62 2979-2981, 1/21/97 - SBA proposes to amend its size and government contracting assistance regulations to incorporate the Very Small Business Program together with a definition of a very small business concern for purposes of the SBA's small business set-aside program. Comments due before March 24, 1997.

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