HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.R. NO.

102

TWENTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2005

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 
   


HOUSE RESOLUTION

 

EXPRESSING SUPPORT FOR THE FEDERAL COmmunity DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT PROGRAM.

 

 

WHEREAS, the federal Community Development Block Grant program was initiated with the passage of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, Public Law 93-383; and

WHEREAS, the Act's primary objective was "the development of viable urban communities, by providing decent housing and a suitable living environment and expanding economic opportunities, principally for persons of low and moderate income"; and

WHEREAS, for over thirty years, the Community Development Block Grant program has provided a flexible block grant that allows communities to prioritize needs for public facilities, housing construction and rehabilitation, public services, and needed infrastructure; and

WHEREAS, the fiscal year 2006 budget offered by the Bush Administration eliminates the Community Development Block Grant program in its entirety by combining it with seventeen other programs into two new programs, reducing funding for the consolidated programs to $3,700,000,000, and moving them to the Department of Commerce, which has no experience in community development; and

WHEREAS, the City and County of Honolulu, and the counties of Hawaii, Maui, and Kauai all receive Community Development Block Grant grants from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development and have utilized the grants to provide a plethora of much-needed facilities and services that have benefited low- and moderate-income households across the State of Hawaii; and

WHEREAS, elimination of the Community Development Block Grant program has been denounced by the United States Conference of Mayors, the National Association of Counties, the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials, the National League of Cities, the National Community Development Association, and the Local Initiatives Support Corporation; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2005, that this body expresses its strong support of the Community Development Block Grant program and urges Hawaii's congressional delegation to oppose the elimination of this valuable program and to support its restoration into the Department of Housing and Urban Development budget at its current funding level of $4,700,000,000; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to each member of Hawaii's congressional delegation and to the Mayor of each county in the State of Hawaii.

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

Report Title:

Community Development Block Grant