<b><center>Statement On VA-HUD 1999 Appropriations Budget</center></b>
For Immediate Release
Statement On VA-HUD 1999 Appropriations Budget
WASHINGTON. (October 5) -- We applaud the Senate and House Conferees for VA-HUD and Independent Agencies for approving the best HUD appropriations in years. The HUD appropriations represent the best in a bipartisan effort, with the administration having submitted an outstanding HUD budget request, and the Congress agreeing with most of those requests.
J. Thomas Cochran, Executive Director of the Conference of Mayors, said, "The HUD appropriations bill gives us hope for the future. A couple of years ago, everyone thought that HUD would cease to be a federal department, but mayors stood up for the department and so did President Clinton, Vice President Gore, HUD Secretary Andrew Cuomo and bipartisan members of Congress. And today we have the best HUD budget in 10 years."
We would also like to thank HUD Secretary Andrew Cuomo for his leadership on behalf of our nation's cities. Secretary Cuomo told the mayors in January before the release of the FY99 budget that they would be pleased with HUD's community development and housing funding requests.
We are particularly pleased with the funding increases for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and the HOME Investment Partnerships programs. The one caveat that we have is that the CDBG set-asides are much too high, having increased further in this year's appropriations. While the HUD budget called for fewer CDBG set-asides, in the end Congress increased them. We must work to cut back on the set-asides in next year's final numbers.
Still, there is much to celebrate: the 50,000 vouchers for families on welfare transitioning to work; the increase in the Public Housing Capital Fund; homelessness and HOPWA funding increases; and the funding of expiring Section 8 contracts.
The U.S. Conference of Mayors fought hard on many fronts to achieve these FY99 funding appropriations. We look forward to future work with the Congress and the Administration on community development and housing funding as well as other program development. Mayors know that the need is great in their cities and will continue to organize to duplicate the congressional response that we received this year.
Contact: Chip Brown, 202-861-6708 or Eugene Lowe, 202-293-7330 ext. 708.
The United States Conference of Mayors
J. Thomas Cochran, Executive Director
1620 Eye Street, NW, Washington, DC 20006
Telephone (202) 293-7330, FAX (202) 293-2352
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