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JULY 11, 1997
HOUSE FUNDING COMMITTEE TAKES UP SPENDING BILL, CDBG SET-ASIDES INCREASE
On Tuesday, July 8, immediately upon returning from the Fourth of July recess, the House Appropriations Committee, chaired by Representative Bob Livingston (R-LA), marked up the FY98 VA, HUD and Independent Agencies appropriations bill. The full committee action came after the funding subcommittee reported out a spending bill on June 25.
The funding levels for HUD programs remained virtually unchanged from the subcommittee recommendation. However, the full committee chose to increase the level of set-asides taken out of CDBG. The full committee increased funding for the Housing Opportunity Program Extension Act of 1996 from $10 million to $16.7 million to provide direct funding for Habitat for Humanity. In other action related to CDBG, the Committee deleted the subcommittee recommended level of $25 million for the Neighborhood Development Initiative, a demonstration program that was intended to implement strategies that help residents who receive public assistance to transition to gainful employment and in an unanticipated move, funded the Economic Development Initiative (EDI) at the Administration's request of $50 million.
This increase of $31.7 million raises the total amount of CDBG set-asides recommended for FY98 to $313.9 million, well above the $289.6 level in FY97, a five percent loss in entitlement funds over FY95 levels.
The language stabilizing the HOME program funding thresholds was also contained in the Committee report. (See NCDA Washington Report, 6/27/97).
The bill now must go to the House floor for a vote, while is likely to occur the last week of July.
Senate Action
The Senate VA- HUD and Independent Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee,
chaired by Senator Christopher (Kit) Bond (R-MO), is expected to mark-up
its version of a FY98 housing budget on July 15. It is anticipated that
the Senate will level fund the CDBG program at $4.6 billion and recommend
the Administration's funding request of $1.3 million for HOME because the
Senate 602(b) allocation was less than that of the House. It is unclear
if the Senate will support the CDBG set-asides proposed by the House Appropriations
Committee. Full Senate Appropriations Committee, chaired by Senator Ted
Stevens (R-AK), is slated to mark-up the subcommittee spending plan on
July 22.
The public housing reforms that were contained in the FY97 appropriations bills were not included in the House funding measure. If these reforms are not reauthorized in the FY98 Appropriations bill than they will expire September 30. Inclusion of these reforms in the appropriations bill, which include one-for-one replacement, repeal of Federal preferences and ceiling and minimum rents, among other reforms is particularly important due to the uncertainty surrounding the passage of H.R. 2 or S. 462 the public housing reform bills currently before Congress..
With the current schedule, it is possible that final action on the VA-HUD bill in both the House and Senate could take place before the summer recess, now scheduled for August 1. If this progress does occur than the only action needed when Congress reconvenes after Labor Day will be a House-Senate conference on the VA-HUD bill.
NCDA will continue to work with Congressional members to reduce this amount when the House and Senate begin working on a conference bill. Speculation is that many in the Senate are less inclined to fund the level of set-asides proposed by the full House Appropriations Committee.
Budget Update House and Senate negotiators began meeting July 10 on the spending portion of the budget reconciliation bill designed to balance the federal budget in five years. Conferees met on H.R. 2015, the spending portion of the Budget Reconciliation bill, Thursday afternoon with the formal meeting on H.R. 2014, the tax portion, commencing this morning.
Neither the House nor Senate version of the tax package include the Administration's Brownfields Tax Initiative, slated to cleanup and redevelop approximately 5,000 industrial properties, leverage private investment and create jobs or a second round of funding for 15 urban and 5 rural Empowerment Zones and 50 urban along with 30 rural Enterprise Communities.
Compromise is the key word as the Conferees prepare to bring both a tax and spending bill to the White House. Presently there are some major differences between the Presidential and Congressional priorities for reconciliation. Congressional leaders have announced their intention to clear both bills before the August 1 recess, three weeks away.
HUD ANNOUNCES SECOND ROUND OF FUNDING FOR HOMEOWNERSHIP ZONES
On July 7 HUD announced the availability of $10 million in funding for the Homeownership Zones program. This is the second round of funding for the competitive program, which awarded six communities a total of $90.8 million in grants and loans on April 8 of this year. According to the NOFA appearing in the July 7 Federal Register, the deadline for applications to be received by HUD for this round is August 29, 1997.
The program is designed to help fund projects that revitalize entire neighborhoods through the creation of homeownership opportunities for low-and moderate-income families. As such, activities under the program would consist of converting vacant, abandoned or blighted land and buildings into single-family homes, thus serving as a catalyst for private investment and business creation. At least 51 percent of the homebuyers assisted under the program must have a household income that does not exceed 80 percent of the median income for the area.
The competition is open to any unit of general local government and smaller communities may apply directly without assistance from the state.
For a copy of the application package and supplemental information, please call HUD's Community Connections at 1-800-998-9999. Copies of the NOFA are available immediately through HUD's web site: http://www.hud.gov/nofas.html
HUD HOLDS BEST PRACTICES SYMPOSIUM IN HOUSTON — NEXT STEPS FOR CPD DISCUSSED
Earlier this week, July 8-10, the Office of Community Planning and Development (CPD) at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) held a symposium on "Building Best Practices" at which they highlighted more than 270 communities that received HUD's "Best Practices" award(s). More than 150 NCDA members were represented at the Symposium.
The meeting was designed to not only acknowledge the work of communities that CPD identified as "blue ribbon communities", but to also bring these practitioners together to share their tools, techniques and strategies. Through a series of plenary sessions, local projects tours and 40 breakout sessions focusing on five key areas — consolidated planning/suitable living environment; continuum-of-care; decent housing; economic opportunity; and, grants management/program requirements, participants learned a great deal from one another and provided HUD with further information regarding what works on the local level.
The HUD "Best Practices" Communities were selected by the HUD Field Offices through a rating and ranking process established and operated by HUD earlier this year as part of the overall "Grants Management System", established in 1996 by CPD as part of the Consolidated Planning process.
At the conclusion of the Symposium, Joseph Smith, Director, Office of Executive Services, HUD and James Cunningham, CPD Director, St. Louis HUD Field Office, outlined the "next steps" for CPD, the Grants Management System, the "Best Practices", and the 1998 HUD Best Practices Symposium.
As you may recall, HUD began overhauling the grant management system when it instituted the Consolidated Plan and then completed the transformation with the modification of the present annual reporting and evaluation system instituted last year. The Grants Management System (GMS) was designed to emphasize a more "performance-based" and collaborative approach using pre-consolidated plan consultations, self-evaluations and annual reporting reviews with field staff. This "performance-based system" is a part of HUD's new more inclusive philosophy begun by former HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros and then Assistant Secretary Andrew Cuomo and the effort by the Department to comply with the "Government Performance and Results Act of 1993" (GPRA) and requests by the Office and Management and Budget (OMB) for increased accountability.
The performance system is comprised of basically three elements: 1) compliance with the statutory requirements of the CPD programs; 2) establishment of a system of locally driven performance measures based on the goals and objectives established in the consolidated plan; and 3) use of a computerized reporting system (IDIS) to establish national program statistics and status reports. The GMS cycle begins with: the consultation; submission and review of the consolidated plan/annual action plan; on-going program support; annual performance report and community assessment; program review letter; and, the most recent feature, the annual comparative review. The Annual Comparative Review is when each individual Field Office rates and then ranks the grantees within their purview according to a series of criteria in an effort to identify the "Best Practices" and those communities that need additional technical assistance, management oversight, etc. It is the Annual Comparative Review that will be used to determine next year's "Best Practices." The comparisons are not rendered across Field Offices, therefore not establishing a "national standard", and grantees will be allowed to appeal any decisions made by the individual field offices
According to Jim Cunningham, HUD has established a 12 person working group of HUD Field Staff and a group of more than 20 practitioners to work together over the next year to evaluate the GMS , the "Best Practices" process and develop next year's symposium. HUD is dedicated to a thoughtful system of performance-based and inclusive management within the Department and amongst the grantees. Field Offices will be developing work plans for each grantee and should be encouraged to share these openly with the grantees. Likewise a suggestion was made for grantees to have an opportunity to identify "Best Practices" among the HUD Field Offices — a concept that may be pursued over the coming months.
All in all the conference was a useful opportunity for communities to network and to provide HUD with useful input on improving and modifying the GMS. NCDA will continue to monitor the GMS and the "Best Practices" and keep the membership updated. In addition, Association members are encouraged to contact NCDA staff regarding their experiences with the performance-based management system and their local field offices. For further information on the "Best Practices", use the Internet address: http://www.hud.gov/whatwork.html or contact your local HUD Field Office or NCDA.
CLARIFICATION: In the NCDA Washington Report, 6/27/97, it was reported that Acting Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing, Kevin Marchman was leaving the Department to work with the San Francisco Public Housing Authority. This information is unsubstantiated and Mr. Marchman is still Acting Assistant Secretary for PIH at the time of this publication.
FEDERAL REGISTER
Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) and Requests for Proposals for the Section 538 Rural Rental Housing Guaranteed Loan Demonstration Program: FR 62 35781-35786, 7/2/97 - The Rural Housing Service announces the availability of up to $25 million for the Section 538 Rural Rental Housing Guaranteed Loan program on a demonstration basis. The deadline for applications is August 18, 1997. Qualified lenders may call the Office of Multifamily Housing Processing Division of the Rural Housing Service at (202) 720-1604 for an application package.
Final Rule: Base Closure Community Redevelopment and Homeless Assistance: FR 62 37478-37484, 7/11/97 - Amends the Revitalizing Base Closure Communities and Community Assistance — Community Redevelopment and Homeless Assistance interim regulation. Effective August 11, 1997.
