by Marilyn Mohrman-Gillis

NLC President Anthony A. Williams, in letters to the leadership of the Senate and House Appropriations Committees, urged support for full funding for the Community Development Block Grant program (CDBG) in the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

In his letter to Sens. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) and Robert Byrd (D-Va.), the chairman and the ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Williams urged support for overall program funding for CDBG of $4.7 billion, with no less than $4.350 billion allocated to formula grants, and urged that the program remain at HUD. 

Williams noted that, ?The Senate support for the Coleman Amendment in the budget resolution process (68-31) is a testament to the demonstrated value of the Community Development Block Grant program to communities throughout this country.?

President Bush has proposed combining CDBG with 17 other grant programs under the Strengthening America?s Communities Initiative, and moving the new program into the Department of Commerce. Bush?s proposal calls for funding the new program at $3.7 billion.

Following NLC?s Congressional City Conference, where Williams rolled out the ?No Cuts, No Move? campaign to save CDBG, the Senate passed an amendment by Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) to restore funding to the program and keep it as a separate grant program in HUD.

In companion letters to House and Senate appropriators, Williams acknow-ledged ?the enormous pressures on the Appropriations Committee to establish a budget that meets the needs of our country?s citizens in a fiscally responsible manner.? 

In consideration of the difficult choices facing the committees, NLC narrowed its appropriations requests to three priorities in addition to full funding for CDBG.

NLC urged the appropriations committees to fully fund highway and transit programs and Amtrak, and to maintain funding for Section 8 Housing Vouchers. 

NLC highlighted these three priority issues because, under the newly consolidated appropriations committee structure in both the Senate and House, funding decisions for CDBG, transportation programs and Section 8 Vouchers will be handled in the same subcommittees. (See chart for description of new subcommittees.) 

Williams stated that it was particularly important that ?these three priorities ? which are essential to cities and towns across the country ? not be pitted against each other in the newly consolidated Senate and House Appropriations Subcom-mittees.? 

NLC asked the appropriators to set the allocations for the two subcommittees ?at a level sufficient to accommodate funding for each of these priorities.?

In addition to requesting full funding for CDBG, NLC urged support for no less than the $42.278 billion, proposed in the President?s Fiscal Year 2006 budget, for core highway and transit programs. In addition, NLC asked appropriators to reject the President?s proposed cut in Amtrak and to fund Amtrak at no less than the $1.2 billion appropriated last year. 

With regard to Section 8 Vouchers, NLC urged support for the President?s request for $20.917 billion and urged the Committee to oppose recent changes to the funding formula that would allocate vouchers based on a fixed dollar amount rather than based on actual market costs.

?NLC and our members face a new challenge in this year?s appropriations process,? cautioned Williams. ?With the consolidation of housing and transportation programs in a single subcommittee, we need to make sure that the appropriators do not fund CDBG at the expense of transportation, Section 8 Vouchers or other housing programs.? 

Work on the appropriations bills is expected between May and July.  NLC will be mobilizing targeted grassroots communications regarding our priorities as the Fiscal Year 2006 appropriations process proceeds.