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Press Room

'Strengthening America's Communities’ Advisory Committee to Meet in Fresno; New Program Would Eliminate Community Development Block Grants

Contact: Liz Hennessy, 202-289-3500 ext. 280

WASHINGTON, April 15 -- The following is a statement of National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO) Executive Director Saul Ramirez on the Commerce Department’s Strengthening America’s Communities Initiative Secretarial Advisory Committee:

Today, the first meeting of the committee charged with advising the Commerce Department on the president’s Strengthening America’s Communities (SAC) plan will be held in Fresno, Calif. The SAC initiative would eliminate 18 federal community and economic development programs, including the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program, and replace them with a new program to be administered by the Commerce Department (which is currently home to only one of the 18 programs.)

For 30 years, CDBG has served as the cornerstone of the federal government’s commitment to partnering with state and local governments to strengthen our nation’s communities and improve the quality of life for low-and moderate-income Americans. NAHRO believes the administration's SAC proposal is an unsettling sign of a shrinking commitment to provide adequately funded and sufficiently flexible tools for rehabilitating affordable housing, spurring economic growth and revitalizing stagnant neighborhoods.

The administration claims the SAC initiative will “better target assistance and achieve greater results for low-income individuals and families, and economically distressed areas.” However, funding for the new program would be 35 percent less than total funding allocated to the 18 programs in 2005. NAHRO is skeptical that this new, under-funded program would provide state and local governments with the flexibility they need to effectively assist their communities. As for targeting assistance, in 2004 approximately 95 percent of CDBG funds expended by entitlement grantees and 96 percent of state CDBG funds expended went to activities that principally benefited low- and moderate-income persons, far exceeding the statutory requirement of 70 percent.

What’s more, the Advisory Committee is comprised of 17 appointed national and regional members—only one of whom currently works at the local level directly administering housing and community development programs. The committee lacks the kind of hands-on experience specifically within the field of housing and community development that is necessary for a responsible and deliberate study of the consequences of eliminating these important programs.

The committee’s work on the SAC initiative is destined to fall short of the high benchmark set by CDBG and the other current programs. Furthermore, Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez has pledged to send authorizing legislation for the SAC initiative to Congress by the end of April. Since the committee will not issue its final report until May 31, it is unclear what the intended outcome and use of the committee’s work will be. NAHRO remains opposed to the SAC initiative and plans to continue to advocate for the continuation of the CDBG program.