HousingMinnesota Bulletin - Volume 4, Issue 8 4-28-05
Joanna Dornfeld
jdornfeld at mhponline.org
Thu Apr 28 13:34:20 CDT 2005
HousingMinnesota
Homes for All by 2012!
The Bulletin
April 28, 2005
Volume 4, Issue 8
Distributed bi-weekly, with news, announcements, legislative updates,
publications and upcoming events. Contact us with items to include in
future issues. The Bulletin is also available on MHP's website at
http://www.mhponline.org/Bulletin/Bulletin.htm.
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News/Announcements
>From the Capitol
House Jobs and Economic Opportunity Committee Omnibus Bill Rep. Bob
Gunther's committee passed its omnibus bill (HF1976) last week with
funding for many housing programs included.
* The Challenge program received $6.5 million more than the
governor's proposal, but is still funded at $6.5 million less than its
base level. (In the Senate budget balancing bill (SF1879) the Challenge
program received $19 million for the biennium.)
* Family Homeless Prevention received funding at its base level,
but did not receive the $4 million increase requested.
* Supportive services grants received the governor's proposed $10
million. (Sen. Linda Berglin did not include funds for supportive
services grants in her omnibus Health and Human Services bill.)
* Emergency Shelter received its base funding, but not $6 million
increase requested. Transitional Housing received a one-time increase of
$500,000 in TANF money and almost half of its base was refinanced with
TANF money for 2006-07 only.
* The MFIP penalty for households receiving a housing subsidy and
MFIP was increased from $50 to $200. For more information go to
http://www.fcsmn.org/policy/action/04.19.05.htm
<http://www.fcsmn.org/policy/action/04.19.05.htm> . (The MFIP and SSI
penalty repeal bill was sent to the Senate Tax Committee.)
Dedicated Fee for Housing Programs The deed fee would provide $20
million over the biennium for housing programs. In the proposal, $10
million would restore cuts to the Challenge program, $8 million would go
into the Housing Trust Fund and the remaining $2 million would be used
for homeless youth programs. SF1953 is waiting to be heard in the
Senate Tax Committee and HF2427 is waiting to be heard in the Jobs and
Economic Opportunity Policy and Finance Committee. For more information
go to
http://www.mnhomelesscoalition.org/AboutTheCoalition/LegislativeAdvocacy
/PolicyPositions/taxes.html.
Renters' Credit More than 150 organizations have signed on to a letter
opposing cuts to the Renters' Credit. To view the letter, go to
www.fcsmn.org/policy/action/renterscredit.htm. If your organization is
interested in signing on, contact Susie Brown at susie.brown at fcsmn.org,
fax 612-339-9150 or phone 612-341-1615. For more information about the
Renters' Credit go to http://www.mncn.org/bp/renterscredit.htm.
Rent-Restricted Properties On Tuesday, the House Property and Local Tax
Subcommittee heard testimony on two bills that will alleviate some of
the tax burden on rent-restricted properties (HF1908 and HF2395). HF
1908 will institute a new class rate for affordable rental property.
HF2395 is identical to the language passed in the Senate and provides
both a class rate change and a valuation approach. Both bills were laid
on the table for consideration in the House Omnibus Tax bill. See
coverage of the hearing in the St. Paul Pioneer Press at
http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/news/politics/11496108.htm
<http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/news/politics/11496108.htm>
or the Fargo Forum at
http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=90036§ion=Sports
<http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=90036§ion=Sports> .
Homeless Outreach Pilot Project The House Public Safety Policy and
Finance Committee included $300,000 in their omnibus bill contingent on
passage of gambling revenue, but did not include any language to repeal
the vagrancy statutes. The bill is waiting for possible inclusion in the
Senate Public Safety Budget Division omnibus bill. For more information
about the project go to
http://www.mnhomelesscoalition.org/Downloads/Download_Vagrancyandoutreac
h.pdf
<http://www.mnhomelesscoalition.org/Downloads/Download_Vagrancyandoutrea
ch.pdf> .
Take Action
Minnesota is Watching, a coalition of faith, labor, nonprofit and
community organizations, expects major budget bills to be heard on the
floors of the House and Senate, and possibly in conference committees,
May 3, 4 and 5. These bills will include budgets for Health and Human
Services, Education, Jobs, Transportation, Housing and more. Join with
the Minnesota is Watching Coalition and its members and allies to be a
visible presence at the Capitol on May 3, 4 and 5. Show legislators and
the Governor that you oppose more service cuts and that you support
raising adequate revenue to protect our state's economic future and
quality of life. For more information about specific times to be at the
Capitol, contact Elena Doucet-Beer at 651-642-1904 x250 or email
elena at mncn.org <mailto:elena at mncn.org> .
Many Voices, One Minnesota Minnesota Council of Churches and Churches
United in Ministry present a worshipful rally for a moral Minnesota
state budget to prevent cuts to childcare, healthcare and affordable
housing and to promote fiscal responsibility and a just means for
raising revenue at 11 a.m. Saturday, May 7 at the Minnesota State
Capitol. For more information go to
http://www.mnchurches.org/commongood/massedchoir.html
<http://www.mnchurches.org/commongood/massedchoir.html> .
>From Congress
Local Action A group of advocates, including HousingMinnesota, have
formed the Minnesota Federal Housing Action Coalition (MnFHAC). We will
be operating as a coalition of advocates working to fully fund the
federal housing budget. The group is currently working to secure a
meeting with Senator Coleman. For more information about the coalition
or to join in the effort contact Beth Kodluboy at (612) 728-5770 ext.
107 or bethk at homelinemn.org.
Members of Minnesota's Delegation Oppose Cuts to Section 8
Representatives Shays (R-CT), Nadler (D-NY), Tiberi (R-OH) and Velazquez
(D-NY) circulated a "Dear Colleague" letter last week asking members of
the House of Representatives to sign a letter urging the HUD
appropriation subcommittee to fully fund the Section 8 program at the
president's requested level, and to defer program reforms to the
authorizing committee. Representatives McCollum, Oberstar, Peterson,
Ramstad and Sabo signed on.
President Bush's Local Housing Flexibility Act of 2005 Released in
Senate Sen. Wayne Allard (R-CO), Chair of the Subcommittee on Housing
and Transportation in the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
Committee, introduced President Bush's proposed rule changes to the
Section 8 program. Changes in the program include:
* Income targets are greatly loosened. While currently 75 percent
of Section 8 families must have extremely low incomes (under 30 percent
of median), the administration proposes that 90 percent of families need
to have incomes under 60 percent of median. In the Twin Cities, an
annual income at 30 percent of median is $23,000, while it is $46,000 at
60 percent of median.
* Drawing from TANF legislation, local housing authorities would
be able to impose time limits on families receiving rent assistance (but
no less than five years, and elderly and disabled households are
protected from this provision).
* Consistent with value the administration places on home
ownership -- seemingly to the exclusion of all other housing objectives
-- instead of being restricted to providing only rent assistance,
housing authorities could commit any portion of their funds for home
ownership down payment assistance.
* Backing away from its commitment to enabling mobility (and
potential deconcentration of poverty), voucher holders could only move
between jurisdictions where there is a program agreement between those
jurisdictions.
* Backing away from the long standing principle that rent should
be established as a percentage of income (roughly 30 percent of gross
income for rent), housing authorities could set their own standard,
subsidies could be a fixed amount (e.g., $200 per month) regardless of
the income of the tenant. (This provision also pertains to public
housing.)
* Putting tenants in preservation properties at risk, the proposal
limits to one year (currently there are no time limits) the use of
higher-rent vouchers provided to enable tenants continued occupancy in
properties whose owners have opted out of federal project-based
assistance programs.
The Senate authorizing committee held a hearing on HUD's budget request
April 21 and included discussion about Allard's bill.
Bipartisan Push to Save CDBG A letter to the Chair and Ranking Members
of the Senate Appropriations Committee requesting $4.7 billion for
community development programs, including the Community Development
Block Grant (CDBG) program is being circulated among Senators for
signatures. Senators Norm Coleman (R-MN), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Paul
Sarbanes (D-MD), Mike DeWine (R-OH), Jack Reed (D-RI), and Rick Santorum
(R-PA) sponsored the letter.
Rep. Colin Peterson to Hold Listening Sessions on Strengthening
America's Communities Initiative The Strengthening America's Communities
Initiative rolled dozens of economic development programs into the
Commerce Department including CDBG. The overall initiative has funding
at 70 percent that of all of the programs combined. Minnesota could
lose $26 million in CDBG funding alone. Please attend one of the
sessions, if you are able, and tell Rep. Peterson it is vital to fully
fund CDBG and keep it in HUD. For more information about the proposal
go to www.nado.org/saci.crs.pdf <http://www.nado.org/saci.crs.pdf> .
* Monday, May 2, 1-2:30 p.m., Mahnomen Service Center, 115
Madison, Mahnomen.
* Friday, May 6, 1-2:30 p.m., Alexandria City Hall Council
Chambers, 704 Broadway, Alexandria.
* Saturday, May 7, 1-2:30 p.m., Chippewa County Court House, 629
North 11th Street (on Highway 7), Montevideo.
Government Sponsored Enterprises Subject of Three Senate Hearings in One
Week Three hearings on GSE reform were held the week of April 18 by the
Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee. Chair Richard
Shelby (R-AL) announced at the conclusion of these hearings that the
Committee will begin to consider legislation to develop a first class
regulator for the GSEs and he hopes to pass a meaningful bill. It is
expected that the Committee will take action on legislation in mid-May.
For more information about the hearings go to
http://www.nlihc.org/mtm/mtm10-16.html#10.
Civil rights, consumer and community development organizations signed a
letter to Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee Chair
Shelby and Ranking Member Paul Sarbanes (D-MD) arguing for strengthening
the new regulator for the GSEs in a manner consistent with their
Congressionally-charted statutes, missions and public purposes. The
letter further lends support to using a percentage of Fannie Mae and
Freddie Mac profits for the production of extremely low-income rental
housing. For a copy of the letter go to
http://www.nlihc.org/news/042205letter.pdf.
HUD Releases Public Housing Operating Subsidy Analysis On April 20, HUD
released a regulatory impact analysis of "Revisions to the Public
Housing Operating Fund Program." The impact analysis provides details on
the "added benefits or losses" resulting from proposed changes to the
operating formula.
The report acknowledges that the proposed operating subsidy formula will
have a direct financial impact on PHAs and residents. In the analysis,
HUD asserts that under the proposed rule, using FY03 dollars, operating
subsidies would increase by $83 million over the five-year
implementation period. This estimate is based on the assumption that
PHAs will receive 100 percent of eligibility funding, even though PHAs
currently receive only 89 percent of eligibility funding and there is
little likelihood that HUD will fully fund PHAs in the future. In
general, the analysis summarizes that PHAs with less than 500 units will
see a funding increase of approximately 37 percent, while PHAs with more
than 6,500 units will see a reduction, with the exception of Puerto
Rico.
HUD argues that the recommendations of the Public Housing Operating Cost
Study and the proposed rule will increase efficiency and benefits, but
HUD acknowledges that it is "unclear" whether PHAs will have an increase
or decrease in funds for tenant services, such as job training and
childcare support.
Take Action HUD is receiving comments on the proposed operating subsidy
rule change until June 13. This HUD analysis, as well as other
information on the operating subsidy rule, can be found at www.nlihc.org
<http://www.nlihc.org/> . To access the rule directly, go to
www.hud.gov/offices/pih/.
New HUD Assistant Secretary Confirmed On April 15, the Senate confirmed
Pamela Patenaude as the new Assistant Secretary for Community Planning
and Development (CPD). The Community Planning and Development division
is responsible for administering the HOME and CDBG programs. Ms.
Patenaude will replace Roy Bernardi, who became Deputy Secretary in May
2004.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Reading/Resources
2004 Fair Lending Disparities: Stubborn and Persistent The National
Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) released a report looking at
newly released 2004 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data. The
report, using newly available information on pricing for high cost
loans, analyzes lending patterns for 15 large lending institutions and
their subsidiaries, which account for 4.6 million prime and 650,000
subprime conventional loans. The study finds that a disproportionate
share of high-cost loans go to minorities, women, and low- and
moderate-income borrowers. For example, African-Americans received 18
percent of conventional subprime loans but only 6 percent of
conventional prime loans in 2004. For a copy of the report go to
www.ncrc.org/pressandpubs/press_releases/documents/HMDA_Pricing_Report.h
tm.
Preservation of Affordable Rural Housing: A Practitioners' Guide to the
Section 515 Program LISC released a guide for preserving rural rental
housing built with Department of Agriculture (USDA) Section 515 funding.
These loans, in addition to other USDA grants, and loans for farm labor
workforce housing, were used to build 269,000 affordable rural rental
housing units. The Section 515 loans restrict the rents on the housing
created, but many of the developments are opting to prepay the remainder
of the mortgage and raising rents to market rates. As a result, the loss
of affordable Section 515 units due to mortgage prepayment is keeping
pace with production of new units.
The guide presents information about USDA rural housing initiatives,
along with strategies to preserve Section 515 units as affordable rental
homes, including a detailed legal breakdown of the prepayment process.
Preservation strategies and public and private funding streams that can
be used for rehabilitation and preservation are listed. The report also
outlines how the process for transferring Section 515 developments can
be used as a preservation tool, particularly with the involvement of a
nonprofit organization. For a complete copy of the report go to
www.lisc.org/resources/2005/03/practitioners_7817.shtml?Affordable+Housi
ng.
Report Urges Preservation of Affordable Rural Housing A report by the
Task Force on Rural Rental Housing Preservation recommends many new
strategies, including new owners and new financing, to save affordable
apartments in rural areas. The report addresses the preservation of
rental properties funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Section
515 program, which helps property owners develop rental units for
low-income rural residents. Task force members include the Housing
Assistance Council, the National Housing Law Project and other
organizations. For a copy of the report go to
http://www.ruralhome.org/manager/uploads/PreservationTaskForceReport.pdf
.
Family Homelessness in Our Nation and Community: A Problem with a
Solution The National Alliance to End Homelessness recently released a
report that examines the nature of family homelessness, families'
experience of homelessness and successful interventions in Washington,
DC and across the nation. You can download it at
http://www.hoopsforthehomeless.org/pressroom/PDF/HoopsPaperFinal.pdf
Minnesota Green Communities RFP Minnesota Green Communities is an
initiative designed to foster the creation of affordable housing,
energy-efficient and sustainable housing in Minnesota. Applications are
due May 20, 2005. For more information go to
www.greencommunitiesonline.org/minnesota.
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Upcoming Events
April 29
Toward a Better Urbanism: Transit, Where Will it Take Us? 6:00-9:00
p.m., in the CALA Auditorium of Ralph Rapson Hall (U of M campus, East
Bank). CNU Minnesota and the Students for New Urbanism at the
University of Minnesota are hosting the panel discussion
April 29-May 22
Portraits of Home: Families in Search of Shelter in Greater Minnesota.
11 a.m.-3 p.m. Wednesday-Friday and Noon-3 p.m. Sunday, Landmark Center,
75 West Fifth Street, Second Floor Galleries, St. Paul. The exhibit is
sponsored by the Greater Minnesota Housing Fund. For more information
go to www.gmhf.com/portraits/invite.htm.
April 30
Home Ownership Fair 2005. 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Metropolitan State
University, 700 East 7th Street, St. Paul. Co-sponsored by
HousingMinnesota and the Minneapolis, North Metro, St. Paul Area and
Southern Twin Cities Area Associations of REALTORS, the Home Ownership
Fair is an opportunity to talk to real estate professionals, lenders and
nonprofit agencies involved in housing. Orientation programs and
seminars include: what to expect when buying a home, programs to help
finance a home, the importance of your realtor, and more. The event is
free and open to the public. Programming will be offered in English,
Spanish, Hmong and Somali. For more information go to
www.homeownershipfair.org.
May 17
The Difference between Authentic Representation and Tokenism:
Diversifying Non-profit Boards. 1:30-4:30 p.m., Minneapolis YWCA, 2121
East Lake Street, in Minneapolis. This event is sponsored by the
Greater Twin Cities United Way and costs $35. RSVP by May 10 at
651-291-8359 or ASrsvp at unitedwaytwincities.org.
June 21-22
Minnesota Supportive Housing Conference. The Minnesota Supportive
Housing Consortium and the Corporation for Supportive Housing are
co-sponsoring their 7th Annual Supportive Housing conference. For more
information go to www.mshc.org.
July 27-29
2005 Financial Management Professionals' Conference. The Westin Michigan
Avenue, 909 North Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Illinois. This year's theme
is "FM Survivor: In the Black and Alive in 2005!" The conference will
demonstrate the goal of CDC financial management, how to make CDCs
thrive in a difficult operating environment, produce the revenue to
carry out our mission and make a real neighborhood impact. For more
information, contact Wayne Vaughan, Program Officer, at 212-455-9594, or
by email, wvaughan at lisc.org.
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Looking for something from the last Bulletin?
Archived issues are available online at:
http://www.mhponline.org/Bulletin/Bulletin.htm
For more information on affordable housing, the content of this document
or if you have news or events to include in future issues, contact
Joanna Dornfeld at (651) 649-1710 ext. 108, email
jdornfeld at mhponline.org or see HousingMinnesota's website at
www.housingminnesota.org <http://www.housingminnesota.org/> .
Joanna Dornfeld
Communications and Media Specialist
HousingMinnesota
(651) 649-1710 ext. 108
www.housingminnesota.org <http://www.housingminnesota.org>
HousingMinnesota is a program of the Minnesota Housing Partnership.
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