Shaheen, Hassan Urge Appropriations Committee to Designate $3.3 Billion to Community Development Block Grant Funding for 2018

**Over the last 40 Years CDBG Program has invested more than $149 Billion in communities nationwide and provided services helping over 133 million people** 

**The President’s budget proposal would eliminate the CDBG program**

(Washington, DC) – U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH) joined 40 U.S Senators in urging federal appropriators to include $3.3 billion in federal funding for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 budget. CDBG is a federal program that provides communities with resources to address a wide range of unique community development needs. Over the last 40 years, the program invested more than $149 billion nationwide and provided services helping over 133 million people.

“The CDBG program is one of the Federal government’s most effective means to revitalize low- and moderate-income communities across the country,” wrote the Senators. “CDBG funding supports homeownership, housing rehabilitation, public improvements and economic development projects while encouraging additional local investment… The importance of this funding to meet the unique needs of local communities is widely recognized and we find it troubling that the President’s budget proposes to eliminate the program altogether.”

CDBG funds are used for:

• Acquiring and rehabilitating of real property that may be used for public works, historic preservation, or other public purposes;
• Reconstruction of public facilities, neighborhood facilities, senior centers, centers for the handicapped, recreation facilities, and street lights;
• Providing assistance to neighborhood-based organizations, including community development corporations, in support of economic development, housing assistance; or neighborhood revitalization activities;
• Micro-lending;
• Brownfield redevelopment;
• Creation of revolving loan funds;
• Rehabilitation of housing owned and occupied by low and moderate income persons;

The full text of the Senators’ letter can be found HERE.