COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AND HOUSING 

ENDORSING PROPOSED INCREASES IN THE BUDGET OF THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

WHEREAS, in the FY1999 budget proposed by the President to the Congress, significant increases in Community Development Block Grant funding for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is included; and

WHEREAS, the proposed budget for HUD increases funding for economic development and job creation by more than 15 percent over FY 1998 enacted levels and proposes over the next 10 years to fund 15 new urban empowerment and/or enterprise zones; and

WHEREAS, HUD’s agenda emphasizes housing, especially in our cities, and requests a 10-percent increase over last year in housing programs including 100,000 new incremental rental vouchers to be targeted 50,000 to helping workers make the transition from welfare to jobs, 34,000 for homeless persons and families who are making the transition to the private rental market, and 16,000 of the vouchers targeted for the elderly and for family reunification and other purposes; and

WHEREAS, the proposed budget recommends doubling the funding for the Brownfields Redevelopment program from $25 million to $50 million to aid cities in preparing low-to-moderately contaminated sites for reuse; and

WHEREAS, the proposed increases are needed to continue the progress being made in the economies and social structures of America’s cities in the late 1990's; and

WHEREAS, nationwide unemployment rates have dropped to 25-year lows, and many cities have made impressive gains in job creation and lowering of unemployment, at the same time there are pockets of severe joblessness in inner city neighborhoods; and

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that The U.S. Conference of Mayors encourages the Congress to incorporate the proposed increases in funding for programs of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in the FY 1999 Budget Resolution they adopt; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the appropriations in the Congress allocate funding to the Department for FY 1999 commensurate with these proposed budget amounts.