Policy Update

HUD Proposes Rent Increases, Tripling Rent for Poorest Households 

SIGN ON: Urge Congress To Reject Proposed Rent Increases.

The Trump Administration released a draft bill to change the way rents for HUD-assisted households are calculated. The changes would increase rents, eliminate income deductions for health and child care expenses, and permit Public Housing Agencies and housing providers to implement work requirements and alternative rent structures for tenants. The proposal would at least triple the minimum rent that the poorest Americans pay for federally-subsidized housing would and put nearly 1 million children at risk of homelessness, according to an analysis of HUD data by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Under current rules, families that receive housing subsidies typically pay 30 percent of their income for rent. Public housing agencies can instead charge a minimum rent of up to $50 a month. Secretary Carson’s proposal, if approved by Congress, would raise that monthly minimum rent to $150. 

Starts Tomorrow! Our Homes, Our Voices National Week of Action

Advocates across the country are hosting the Our Homes, Our Voices National Housing Week of Action on May 1-8 to bring attention to the severe shortage of affordable homes and urge increased investments in solutions. NACEDA members are organizing several events. Housing Alliance Delaware is hosting a 2018 Day for Housing, including lobbying at the State Capitol. The Housing & Community Development Networks of New Jersey is partnering on events with five local organizations. For example, in Camden, NJ, Parkside Business & Community in Partnership, Inc. will celebrate a grant to implement their resident-driven strategic plan for redevelopment of their neighborhood. The Massachusetts Association of Community Development Corporations is co-hosting a Home Matters Forum. And, the Sacramento Housing Alliance is hosting a networking event. See how you can get involved. 

Budget Rescission Request that Could Delay Funding for HOME and CDBG

Recently approved FY 2018 funding for programs like HOME, CDBG, and Section 4 could be at risk as the Trump Administration considers sending Congress a $30-$60 billion rescission request that would cut federal spending. While Congress is unlikely to accept cuts to spending bills that they have already passed, HUD and other federal agencies would not be able to use appropriated funds for 45 days while Congress considers the Administration’s proposal. These delays would be felt most significantly by states and localities, who will be unable to use the federal funds.

Opportunity Zone Designations Announced, IRS Releases FAQs and Seeks Comments

Treasury Department and IRS have announced Opportunity Zone designations in 20 states and four territories. Nearly half of all nominations have been approved. The remaining designations are expected in the next few weeks. Enterprise's webinar Analyzing Opportunity Zone Nominations and What States Should Do Next is an excellent resource. The IRS also published FAQs and an invitation to comment. 

CFPB Seeks Comments On Consumer Financial Education

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is assessing the efficiency and effectiveness of its consumer financial education. Submit your comments by July 9. 

Thriving Networks

Maryland Protects Residents From Predatory Tax Lien Sales 

Thanks to advocacy by NACEDA member Community Development Network of Maryland (CDN), the Maryland General Assembly passed a series of five bills to prevent homeowners from losing their homes due to unpaid water and tax bills, and address vacant properties that have tax sale issues. Under the new legislation, homes with unpaid tax bills less than $750 and apartments with unpaid tax bills of less than $350 will not be eligible for tax sale. These bills also established a hotline that Maryland residents can call when facing a potential tax sale, allow for liens to be released on properties that do not sell in tax sale, and require courts to waive fees to open estates on properties headed to tax sale. The package of bills was developed following the release of report by the CDN-led Tax Sale Task Force.

When asked about this legislative success, Odette Ramos, Executive Director of CDN, said, "Tax sale in Maryland is predatory, causing families (especially seniors) to make tough decisions about paying the investor who bought their lien (plus interest) and food/rent. Maryland has vacant properties across the state that have tax sale complications. Our package of legislation works to prevent homeowners in Maryland from getting to tax sale to begin with, and also provides more tools to jurisdictions to get vacant properties to productive use. Thanks to the General Assembly for understanding this crisis and working to resolve it.”

California and New Jersey Members Selected As "Opportunity Starts At Home" Grantees

Housing California and the Housing & Community Development Network (HCDNNJ) of New Jersey are leading their states' engagement in Opportunity Starts At Home, a new national campaign that engages the healthcare, education and civil rights sectors in a long-term campaign to meet the rental housing needs of America's lowest-income people. Housing California and HCDNNJ will use their funding to expand community organizing and multi-sector coalition-building efforts that elevate new voices from other sectors. These grants were created with financial support from Funders for Housing and Opportunity, a new collaborative of nine major foundations. Opportunity Starts At Home is also supporting multi-sector coalitions in Idaho, Maine, Ohio, Oregon, and Utah.

NACEDA's Eastern Caucus Convenes In Baltimore

The two-day convening featured peer discussions on Inclusionary Zoning, Resident Organizing, Community Development and the Health Sector, Advancing the Next Generation of Community Development Leaders, and the Future of Community Development in the East. Co-hosted by the Community Development Network of Maryland, the convening included participants from the Massachusetts Associations of CDCs, the Housing & Community Development Network of New Jersey, the Coalition for Nonprofit Housing & Economic Development, the Philadelphia Association of CDCs, Shelterforce, the Center for Community Change, the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, and JPMorgan Chase. Thanks to Central Baltimore Partnership and to the Richmond Fed's Baltimore Branch Office for hosting. JPMorgan Chase supported the convening.

Conference Cultivates Black Community Development

The Network for Developing Conscious Communities Conference will be held May 30-June 2 in Baltimore, Maryland. This national conference will include community development practitioners, business leaders, academics, spiritual thought leaders, and others committed to the success of Black and dis-invested communities. The Network is one of NACEDA's partners on the People & Places event.

Healthy Places

Rhode Island Department of Health Facilitates Investment In Communities

"To have the biggest impact on health outcomes, and help curb the rising cost of care, we must shift our investments to the place where health happens the most: our communities," states Rhode Island Department of Health Director Nicole Alexander-Scott. To that end, her department has launched the Health Equity Zone (HEZ) initiative. Each HEZ establishes or expands a collaborative infrastructure of diverse community partners, who conduct a needs assessment and collectively implement a data-driven plan of action. The Department of Health encourages HEZs to include community development partners in their collaboratives. 

Rhode Island is using existing regulatory mechanisms to pursue new and creative opportunities to bridge the gap between the action of the HEZ community-based collaboratives and the healthcare system. This includes the process they use to approve changes in hospital ownership and significant reductions in primary care and emergency department services under the authority of the State’s Hospital Conversions Act. The Act requires the health department to approve certain changes sought by hospitals, to ensure a safe, accessible, and affordable healthcare system for all. In the past year, the health department has required investment in the local HEZs that two health systems reside in as a condition for approving their applications subject to this review process. The conditions also require the health systems to collaborate with their local HEZ collaboratives to fulfill the needs assessments of the community benefit requirements established through the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

Creative Places

Philadelphia Association of CDCs Releases Art, Equity + Place

PACDC’s 2018 Magazine Art, Equity + Place features stories of community develop

ers, residents, and artists using creativity to help address complex neighborhood issues.  The Magazine includes a very useful "Guidebook for Arts and Community Development" as well as articles that stimulate ideas about creating neighborhood health, happiness, and well-being with art. Here a few of the articles:

• a forward on "what the heck is placemaking?" by NACEDA board member Joe McNeely (formerly of the Central Baltimore Partnership); 
• stories of art and community by Pamela Bridgeforth of PACDC; 
• a call to artistic action by Aviva Kapust of The Village of Arts and Humanities; 
• an interview on sustainable investment with Patrick Morgan of the Knight Foundation; 
• a policy primer by Jeremy Liu of PolicyLink; 
• the story of how "Art Powered Places" engaged Philadelphia communities by Lisa Jo Epstein of Just Act.

NACEDA supported Art Powered Places with backing from the National Endowment for the Arts. 

Resources

HUD Capacity Building Grant Opportunity Opens May 1

Enterprise is an intermediary for HUD Capacity Building for Community Development and Affordable Housing Program, commonly referred to as Section 4. These funds are used to build capacity in nonprofit Community Development Corporations (CDCs) and Community Housing Development Organizations (CHDOs). Learn about this grant opportunity.

Funding Opportunities

Go to our website for current grant opportunities. They're updated throughout the month.