Special Federal Budget Issue: Department of Housing and Urban Development

Big H, little u, little d may provide the most apt description of the priorities in the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) FY 2006 request, as cuts to the economic development programs are deep. Housing advocates may not entirely agree with that summation as the agency overall takes an 11 percent cut to total $28.51 billion for FY06; however, nearly every major initiative promoting economic development falls victim to the budget knife.

Slated for elimination are Community Development Block Grants ($4.7 billion in FY 2005, including most CDBG set asides), Community Development Loan Guarantees (subsidy and authorization level of $282 million), Brownfields Economic Development Initiative ($24 million), Economic Development Initiatives Special Purpose Projects ($292 million), Neighborhood Network Initiative and Neighborhood Initiative Demonstration (combined $57 million), Renewal Communities, Urban Empowerment Zones and Enterprise Communities ($10 million), Rural Housing and Economic Development ($24 million), and Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing ($7 million).

In total, the Community Planning and Development account would be down from $8.341 billion in FY05 to $3.68 billion in FY06 (55 percent decrease).

Research and Technology, however, would see a sharp rise to $70 million (55 percent increase) as the $29 million University Program, formerly funded under the CDBG line item, is transferred into the Policy Development and Research account.