By Eugene T. Lowe
March 28, 2005

The Senate adopted an amendment to its budget resolution March 17 to increase funding for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program and other economic development programs proposed for elimination in the administration's Strengthening America's Communities Initiative. The amendment, offered by Senator Norm Coleman (MN), which passed by a vote of 68 - 31, also calls for retaining the CDBG program at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The House, in its budget resolution, assumes that CDBG funding would be increased.

In the FY2006 budget, the administration proposes to consolidate the funding of CDBG along with the funding of 17 other programs into a new economic development program at the Department of Commerce. The new Commerce program would be funded at $3.71 billion. In FY2005, CDBG alone was funded at $4.7 billion.

Coleman said that his amendment was "simple." He said, "It says no cuts to the Community Development Block Grant Program. It says no moving CDBG, no to program changes that limit CDBG's effectiveness." Speaking further about his amendment, Coleman said, "I know CDBG works because, when I was mayor before coming to Washington, I worked with it. In coming here, my hope was to be Minnesota's mayor in Washington. I always take pride in the fact that a mayor's focus is on getting things done."

As the former mayor of St. Paul, Coleman said that he submitted budgets that did not increase taxes for eight years. His ability to establish such a record was the growth that came in his city from "public-private partnerships that CDBG created and shaped..." With this experience, the Senator emphatically stated, "I can personally testify that dollar for dollar there is not better initiative to help states and localities renew and rebuild our cities and create economic growth and jobs than the Community Development Block Grant Program."

House Adopts Report Language in Support of CDBG

In the House, Budget Chairman Jim Nussle (IA), included report language in the budget resolution which increased the funding level of community and regional development programs. On March 16, Representative Mike Turner (OH), in a dialogue with Nussle and Representative Nancy Johnson (CT) said, "I support the Committee on the Budget in adding $1.140 billion to the administration's request for programs under the community and regional development function in the budget, which includes the Community Development Block Grant. The budget document itself specifically lays out that the funds are being restored with the clear intention of supporting the Community Development Block Grant program. It goes on to state that the resolution makes no assumption regarding implementation of the President's proposed Strengthening America's Communities Block Grant program from the Department of HUD to the Department of Commerce. This is an important notation because it is very important for national associations that support urban issues, like the U.S. Conference of Mayors , the National League of Cities, that have had a great deal of concern about the consolidation of 18 programs, some of which are currently located in HUD, to Commerce..."

In closing out the dialogue, Nussle said, "We disagreed with the President in his budget with the changes that were made to the Community Development Block Grant; so we made that value judgment and change in this budget. We are supporting our mayors. We are supporting our communities. We want to be good partners, and we believe in local control in solving those problems. The big federal government cannot solve all these problems that these local folks are dealing with. We want to give them the opportunity to do that."