March 4 , 2009
Vol. 38, No. 5

FY 2009 spending bill nears completion. The House of Representatives on February 25 passed H.R. 1105, an omnibus appropriations bill to fund federal programs for fiscal 2009. The Senate is now considering the bill, with the current CR set to expire on March 6. Most HUD and USDA programs received increases or level funding. For USDA rural housing, the bill does not accept the drastic cuts in the Bush administration’s original 2009 budget proposal. The text of H.R. 1105 and an explanatory statement are available at https://thomas.loc.gov/home/approp/app09.html.

a. Rental Assistance contracts were for four years in FY 2006, two years in FY 2007, and one year in FYs 2008 and 2009. H.R. 1105 includes $2 million in RA for new Section 515 units and $3.4 million for new Section 514/516 units.

a. Includes $5.0 million for tribal economic development and entrepreneurship.

Obama budget outline for 2010 released. Housing programs fared well in the summary of President Obama’s first budget, released February 26. Full details are coming in April. No details were available on USDA housing, but HUD programs would include $4.5 billion for CDBG, a first ever $1 billion for the National Housing Trust Fund, increased funding for Housing Choice Vouchers and Project-Based Rental Assistance, a new energy innovation fund, and a New Choice Neighborhoods Initiative (for “transformative interventions in neighborhoods of concentrated poverty”). The outline states, without details, that reforms to HUD’s Rural Housing and Economic Development program will be suggested. Budget documents are available at https://www.omb.gov.

Allocation of stimulus funding begins, web resources established. A summary of the American Recovery and Revitalization Act’s changes to HUD’s Neighborhood Stabilization Program is posted at https://www.enterprisecommunity.org/public_policy/legislative.asp. HUD’s use of NSP and other funds, including allocations to specific places, is described at https://www.hud.gov/recovery and its homelessness prevention plans are at https://www.hudhre.info. Information about USDA’s allocation of new Section 502 direct and guaranteed funds should become available at https://www.usda.gov/recovery. The Administration’s site for the entire federal government’s recovery efforts is https://www.recovery.gov.

HUD seeks suggestions for NAHASDA committee. Nominations are due May 1 for a negotiated rulemaking committee to implement changes adopted in the 2008 law reauthorizing the Native American Housing and Self-Determination Act. See Federal Register, 3/2/09, pp. 9100-01 or https://www.regulations.gov. Contact Rodger J. Boyd, HUD, 202-401-7914.

OMB invites comments on its review of regulations. The Office of Management and Budget will accept comments by March 16 on the principles and procedures governing its review of proposed federal regulations, as it develops recommendations for changes requested by President Obama. See Federal Register, 2/26/09, p. 8819. Contact Mabel Echols, OMB, 202-395-6880.

Senate report addresses housing response errors after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Far From Home: Deficiencies in Federal Disaster Housing Assistance after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and Recommendations for Improvement, by the Senate Homeland Security Committee’s Ad Hoc Subcommittee on Disaster Recovery, is free at https://landrieu.senate.gov/releases/09/2009226C39.html.

HUD extends DHAP assistance for hurricane survivors. Disaster Housing Assistance Program vouchers will be available through August 31 for renters holding DHAP vouchers issued after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and for others eligible for HUD’s Housing Choice Voucher program. Visit https://www.hud.gov/offices/pih/publications/hurricane.cfm or contact a local PHA for details.

HUDclips website changed again. The site providing access to HUD policies, procedures, notices, and more is now https://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/hudclips/index.cfm (see HAC News, 1/16/08).

Per capita income higher in rural areas than urban. The Economic Research Service reports that in fiscal year 2005, for the first time in its almost 40 years of analysis, rural areas received more in total per capita federal funding ($7,473) than urban areas ($7,391). ERS suggests the change is related to urban homebuyers’ increased use of subprime mortgages from private lenders instead of federally insured mortgages in 2005. Visit https://www.ers.usda.gov/AmberWaves/March09/Findings/RuralFederalFunding.htm