HUD Budget best in a decade FWD
Tom Boland (wgcp@earthlink.net)
Sun, 25 Oct 1998 07:37:41 -0400
http://www.usnewswire.com/topnews/Current_Releases/1021-134.txt
FWD U.S. Newswire - 21 Oct 18:26
CUOMO: HUD BUDGET AN 'HISTORIC VICTORY'
To: National Desk
Contact: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development,
Office of Public Affairs, 202-708-0685;
or Internet: http://www.hud.gov/news.html
WASHINGTON, Oct. 21 /U.S. Newswire/ -- President Clinton
today signed the Department of Housing and Urban Development's
(HUD) appropriations bill into law, giving HUD its best budget
in a decade and enacting landmark measures that transform public
housing, create housing assistance vouchers for 90,000 families,
and enable more families to get FHA mortgages to become homeowners.
In addition to these provisions, all proposed by President
Clinton, the $24.5 billion budget bill meets the President's request
for increased funding for key HUD programs including: public housing
revitalization and capital improvements, Community Development Block
Grants, homeless assistance, combating housing discrimination, and
the Youthbuild job training program.
The bill also allows HUD to create a new program of homeownership
vouchers requested by the President and authorizes HUD to develop a
home rehabilitation demonstration program proposed by Congressman
Joseph Kennedy of Massachusetts.
President Clinton said: "This Act also makes landmark housing
reform a reality. This bipartisan bill will allow more economic
integration and deconcentration in our nation's public housing;
encourage and reward work; provide protections for those most in
need; and put the Nation back into the housing business with the
first new housing vouchers in five years."
Housing and Urban Development Secretary Andrew Cuomo said: "This
bill is a historic victory for President Clinton and the Democrats
who stood firm in support of his policies to transform public
housing, expand the supply of affordable housing and increase
homeownership. But far more importantly, this legislation is a
victory for America's people and communities in greatest need,
because it brings them new opportunities to build better futures."
"I would especially like to thank Sen. Paul Sarbanes and
Congressman Joseph Kennedy for their tremendous work to win approval
of this important legislation," Cuomo added.
The legislation will:
-- Transform public housing by reducing segregation by race and
income, encouraging and rewarding work, bringing more working
families into public housing, and increasing the availability of
subsidized housing for very poor families. To deconcentrate poverty,
additional moderate-income working families will be admitted to
public housing where the poorest residents on welfare are now
concentrated. At the same time, the poorest families will be
admitted to public housing where families with higher incomes are now
concentrated. The final legislation provides that at least 75 percent
of Section 8 vouchers go to families with incomes below 30 percent of
the area median income -- compared with just 40 percent of the
vouchers in the earlier version of the bill passed by the House. In
public housing, the final bill says that at least 40 percent of newly
available public housing units will go to the poorest households
(with limited exceptions) -- compared with only 35 percent of units
(with broad exceptions) under the original House bill. Median family
income varies from city to city. Nationally, it stands at $45,300.
The legislation also is designed to improve living conditions and
reduce crime in public housing. In addition, the bill implements
public housing reforms that were proposed by the Clinton
Administration to require improved public housing management and
increased program efficiency.
-- Create housing assistance vouchers for 90,000 more families
with low and moderate incomes though the Section 8 program to enable
them to rent privately owned apartments. This is the first increase
in vouchers in five years. 50,000 new vouchers will be created for
families moving from welfare to work, and 40,000 vouchers will be
made available by eliminating a mandatory three-month waiting period
to reissue vouchers that go from one family to another. In addition,
the bill authorizes another 200,000 vouchers -- 100,000 in the year
2000 and an additional 100,000 in the year 2001.
-- Enable more families to qualify for FHA mortgages by raising
the limit on home mortgages insured by the FHA (Federal Housing
Administration). Until now, FHA insurance could cover mortgage loans
ranging from $86,317 in low-cost housing areas to $170,362 in
high-cost areas. The legislation increases the loan limits
substantially -- ranging from $109,032 in low-cost areas to
$197,621 in high-cost areas. The higher ceiling on FHA mortgages
opens the door to homeownership for thousands of families each
year who need FHA insurance to get mortgages but are locked
out now because the current ceilings have not kept pace with
rising home prices.
-- Revitalize and improve public housing developments with
substantial increases in two programs. Funding for the public housing
revitalization program known as HOPE VI rises from $550 million last
year to $625 million this year -- an increase of 14 percent. Under
HOPE VI, HUD is replacing decaying public housing with new housing
and is also helping residents get education, training and jobs to
become self-sufficient. Funding for public housing capital
improvements is rising even more dramatically, from $2.5 billion last
year to $3 billion this year - a 20 percent increase. Capital
improvement funds are used to upgrade public housing, tear down
obsolete units, provide assistance to displaced families and build
replacement units.
-- Increase funding for Community Development Block Grants from
$4.675 billion last year to $4.75 billion this year -- a $75 million
expansion of the program, which provides flexible federal assistance
to help local governments to carry out a wide range of community and
economic development activities.
-- Increase funding for homeless assistance from $823 million last
year to $975 million this year -- an 18 percent increase. HUD's
award-winning Continuum of Care Program assists homeless people to
obtain health care, job training and jobs, and permanent housing to
help them become self-sufficient.
-- Expand fair housing programs that reduce housing
discrimination. As part of the President's "One America" initiative,
funding for fair housing programs is raised from $30 million last
year to $40 million this year -- a 33 percent increase.
This includes $7.5 million for a new audit-based enforcement
initiative proposed by the Administration. HUD will provide funds to
local non-profit groups and enforcement agencies to monitor and act
against housing discrimination.
-- Expand the Youthbuild Program, which provides on-site training
in construction skills, along with academic training, to unemployed
high school drop-out ages 16 to 24. Funding is increased from
$35 million last year to $42.5 million this year -- a 21 percent
boost. Youthbuild participants build housing for homeless and
other low-income people, and in the process learn construction
skills that can land them good jobs.
-- Create a homeownership voucher program that will allow as many
as 50,000 families to use their Section 8 rental assistance vouchers
to become first-time homebuyers. Under the new program, the same HUD
funds now going to help pay a family's rent will instead be used for
the family's monthly mortgage payments. Rules for the new program are
expected to require each participating family to have income from
employment, contribute funds for a downpayment, and receive a
mortgage loan from a conventional lending institution.
-- Authorize HUD to develop a home rehabilitation demonstration
program under which HUD will provide grants to subsidize interest on
loans for home rehabilitation in 10 communities. Grant funds could
also be used to help make loan funds available for home
rehabilitation by creating revolving loan funds, loan loss reserves
and other financial structures. HUD is also authorized to provide
technical assistance for home rehabilitation, including counseling
and final inspections of rehabilitation work.
-0-
/U.S. Newswire 202-347-2770/
10/21 18:26
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