by Donald J. Borut

If you like complexity, you?ve gotta love the federal budget and appropriations process. And if you want to make sure critical programs for cities and towns are adequately funded, it is imperative that you engage (lobby) at every stage of the process. That is exactly what you and other local officials across the country are doing right now to save the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program.

Thanks to effective grassroots pressure from local officials, the House and Senate adopted a joint budget resolution that would keep CDBG in the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and fully fund the program, a critical first step. With more grassroots pressure from local officials, 55 Senators and 181 Representatives signed letters to their respective appropriators supporting level funding for CDBG at HUD ? another important message about the significance of CDBG.

Our campaign to ?Save CDBG: No Cuts and No Move? has had a significant impact so far in the early stages of the budget and appropriations process.

But now is the time to cross the finish line. The House subcommittee on Transportation, Treasury and HUD, which oversees the CDBG program, is expected to put a draft bill together (a mark up) in mid June. The Senate will follow, possibly before Congress recesses in August.

A letter, sponsored by Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Norm Coleman (R-Minn.), was sent to the chairs and ranking members of the full Senate appropriations committee and the HUD subcommittee. It expressed the ?will of the Senate? to ?provide at least $4.732 billion for CDBG and related programs in fiscal year 2006, while supporting the President?s funding request for ?Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers and homeless assistance and providing adequate funding for other HUD programs.?

A letter, sponsored by Reps. James Oberstar (D-Wisc.) and Rob Simmons (R-Conn.) and sent to the chair and ranking member of the House HUD subcommittee, also requests level funding for CDBG and other HUD programs. The letter says ?CDBG, coupled with HUD?s housing and homeless programs, provide communities with a comprehensive approach to help states, counties, cities and rural communities meet the needs of low-income communities.?

So far so good. This latest strong expression of support is a testament to the efforts of local elected officials.

Clearly ?localized and personalized? messages about what CDBG means to cities and towns are resonating in the halls of Congress.

But we need to close the deal and make sure that maintaining funding for CDBG doesn?t come at the expense of Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers and other important municipal programs. We must sustain the message as the process continues.

Your members of Congress will be home for their Memorial Day recess this week, and they must hear from you. I urge you to find out whether your representatives signed the Senate and House appropriations letters and follow up with them this week.

? If your representatives signed the Senate or House appropriations letter, thank them ? both by letter and in person if you see them over the recess.

? If your representatives say they support CDBG but did not sign, talk to them to find out why not.  If your member is on the Senate or House appropriations committee, they may observe a practice of not signing appropriations letters. But if they are not, I encourage you to seek their support.

? If your representatives do not support funding for CDBG, you can raise the political stakes of opposing CDBG by generating pressure through the media.

The media coverage of the proposed cuts to CDBG has been a critical and effective component of the ?Save CDBG: No Cuts, No Move? campaign.

This Memorial Day recess ? when the members are home ? is the ideal time to alert the media once again to recognize those members who are supportive of CDBG and to turn up the heat on those members who are not.

NLC has developed a CDBG Media Tool Kit to help. Go the Grassroots Action Center at www.nlc.org for a sample letter to the editor and a draft press statement that you can customize with your own local story about the value of CDBG to your community.

Please do your part to help close the deal on CDBG in the appropriations process. The message is simple: Provide full funding for CDBG but not at the expense of Section 8 and other important municipal programs.

As former Sen. Alan Simpson told us at the recent Congress of Cities, ?You have the power. Elected officials will listen to other elected officials.? But you have to speak up to be heard.