Updates

FY 2000 Appropriations

After intensive negotiations and pressure from advocates, Congress and the Administration agreed on a surprisingly good appropriations bill for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The victories included 60,000 new housing vouchers, coming after last year’s 50,000 new vouchers. Funding for homelessness assistance, Section 202 (elderly housing), and the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) was also increased. Overall, the bill provides $26.3 billion for HUD, $2.2 billion more than FY 1999.

Rural housing and economic development programs under the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) also received good news. These programs’ appropriations were not cut and several – single family direct loans, single family guaranteed loans, and rental assistance – received increases. A new Rural Community Development Initiative will make $6 million available for intermediaries to provide nonprofit capacity building. For more details, visit the National Low Income Housing Coalition’s website at www.nlihc.org. 

Community Reinvestment Act

On November 12, President Clinton signed S. 900, financial modernization legislation. Advocates opposed several changes the new law makes to the 1977 Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). Although earlier versions of the bill were much worse, the law still weakens CRA enforcement for small banks and includes weaker than hoped for CRA rules for newly authorized financial institutions.

For more information on the law and its effects and other issues affecting community reinvestment, visit the National Community Reinvestment Coalition’s (NCRC) website at www.ncrc.org. NCRC is a coalition of over 700 community groups seeking to increase access to capital for low-income people/communities.

1 Percent More for Democracy

In October 1999 the National Network of Grantmakers released a study it commissioned that found that grantmaking foundations could give away 60 percent more money than they do now without eroding the total value of their assets. The complete study, conducted by Barnard College economics professor Perry Mehrling, is available on line at www.nng.org.

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