Durbin Calls for Renewed Funding for Community Development Block Grants

DURBIN CALLS FOR RENEWED FUNDING FOR COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANTS

President's Budget Puts Suburban Neighborhood Revitalization Programs in Jeopardy

Wednesday, February 23, 2005

[DES PLAINES, IL] - Economic development, housing and youth services programs and the people they are intended to serve throughout the suburbs will be at risk if the President Bush's proposed cuts to the Community Development Block Grant Program are approved by the Congress. The program, which provides funding to state and municipal governments and empowers them to allocate the funding to local projects in low to moderate income areas, faces an unprecedented 34 percent cut in the President's 2006 budget.

Durbin hosted a roundtable today with the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus at the Des Plaines public library to discuss the President's budget cuts to the CDBG program and how it would affect their communities. Nearly 20 Chicagoland mayors attended the conference to discuss how the proposed budget cuts would affect their communities.

The President's budget eliminates the CDBG program from the Department of Housing and Urban Development and creates a new program called "Strengthening America's Communities Initiative" within the Department of Commerce which focuses on economic development. Durbin believes the Department of Commerce does not have the infrastructure or capacity in place to provide a comprehensive approach to neighborhood development.

The State of Illinois will receive $196 million in CDBG funding in fiscal year 2005. The CDBG program was created in the 1974 to address the unique needs of the nation's urban areas as well as residents with low or moderate incomes.

"Now the president wants to all but abandon the Community Development Block Grant Program, cutting the program by $1 billion, eliminating funding for 17 other programs and then asking our cities and suburbs to make do," said Durbin. "That's simply unacceptable. Communities count on this money. The disadvantaged families in this state deserve better."

CDGB funding has been requested and secured in recent years by the communities represented at Senator Durbin's meeting today with local mayors. Projects included providing resources for police officers, improving street lighting, rehabilitating failing sewer lines, funding area homeless shelters, upgrading low income housing, reconstructing problem roadways and operating substance abuse programs.

http://durbin.senate.gov/releases.cfm