The House adopted the $789 billion economic
stimulus package this afternoon and the Senate is voting
as this is being sent. According to the Federal Policy
Project Alert from the California Housing Partnership,
Congress included approximately $18 billion in spending
for affordable housing.
This includes two important proposals originated in
California to free stalled Low Income Housing Tax Credit
(LIHTC) developments: $2 billion in HOME gap financing
and a mechanism to allow Tax Credit Allocating Agencies
(TCACs) to exchange all unused 9% credits from prior
years and up to 40% of the 9% credits available in 2009.
The other LIHTC fixes sought by advocates, both credit
acceleration and credit lookback were not adopted.
Other funding includes:
· $1 billion for the Community
Development Block Grant.
· $2
billion for the Neighborhood Stabilization Program.
· $4 billion for the Public
Housing Capital Fund.
· $2 billion
for full - year payments to owners receiving Section 8
project-based rental assistance.
·
$250 million through HOME for energy retrofitting and
green investments in HUD-assisted housing
projects.
· $1.5 billion for
homeless prevention activities as allocated through the
Emergency Shelter Grant Program.
·
$100 million for the Lead Hazard Reduction
Program.
· $510 million for the
Native American Housing Block
Grants.
· $5 billion for the
Weatherization Assistance Program administered within
the Department of Energy.
· $10
million for the Self-Help and Assisted Homeownership
Opportunity Program.
Look for more details in the March issue of
Housing & Community Development News.
The Federation has added a Roundtable Session on June 4,
2009 that will review the local opportunities for using
these and other funding sources.
In the meantime, all members are encouraged to send
a thank you note to the members of the Congressional
delegation that supported this
bill.
