LISC and NFL Celebrate 10 Years ofBuilding Playing Fields in UnderservedNeighborhoods. The Grassroots Programpartnership was highlighted in the NFLReport's Winter Super Bowl edition and at anevent at Harlem River Park ball fields in NewYork, where the Local Initiatives SupportCorporation honored the National FootballLeague for having contributed $20million--leveraging another $58 million--overthe past decade. The program has providedfinancial and technical assistance tononprofit organizations and schools in some40 cities across the country, not merelyproviding recreational opportunities foryouth but spurring redevelopment of thosecommunities. In 2007, the Youth Football Fundincreased its annual contribution to $5 million.

NACEDA and MACDC Helping Congress TieForeclosure Relief to Economic Stimulus,working of late with Rep. Barney Frank'soffice on a legislative package in the House."The foreclosure crisis is a big part of thereason that our economy is struggling so wethink the stimulus bill should help addressthis issue," said NACEDA Officer and BoardMember Joe Kriesberg, who is also Presidentof the Massachusetts Association of CDCs. Heexplained that CDCs could buy foreclosedproperties, protect existing tenants,maintain the properties and ensure theirlong-term use as affordable housing inlow-wealth communities. NACEDA ExecutiveDirector Jane DeMarines said: "We don't wantthese properties to become the next windfallopportunity for speculators." NACEDA proposesthat the following be included in anyproposed legislation: 1) Resources for localgovernment to increase code enforcement offoreclosed properties; 2) Resources forstate/local jurisdictions to enablenonprofits to acquire, rehab, manage andultimately dispose of foreclosed properties;3) Encourage/require Fannie Mae, FHA andFreddie Mac to be more risk-tolerant whenparticipating in both foreclosure preventionprograms and acquisition strategies. 4)Convene lenders to negotiate bulk transfer ofmortgages/properties to public purposeentities at a reasonable discount withfederal money used to guarantee or insureagainst significant loss; and 5) Pass amortgage company Community Reinvestment Act(CRA) at the federal level.

IACED Releases 'Indiana's Property TaxCrisis: Is Property Tax Relief or TaxRestructuring the Solution?' Indianaproperty taxes, despite the state's 37thplace national ranking, are growing fast andparticularly hitting families of modestmeans, according to the reportfrom the Indiana Association for CommunityEconomic Development, which provides sevenconclusions, including six recommendationsfor policy makers.

Home Depot to Donate $50-250K ofMerchandise, Hires 'Gifts in Kind' to Get theWord Out. Through the charitable program,retail Home Depots will give the homebuilding products to local organizations.Contact Richard Wong, CEO, at rwong@giftsinkind.org.Distributable literature available.

Bank of America Acquires CountrywideFinancial, BoA announced on January 11.The stated price tag of $4 billion places thevalue of Countrywide shares at about $7, downfrom more than $45 less than a year ago. Amida national foreclosure crisis, the companiessaid they do not plan to originate subprimeloans and that they want to keep distressedborrowers in their homes when possible.Countrywide says it saved 80,000 borrowersfrom foreclosure last year due to its $16billion home retention initiative. (Pressrelease).

Enterprise Green Communities Highlightedin Energy Department's High PerformanceBuildings Database. One example isKingsbury Place in Walker, Michigan. The 44-unit, 10-buildingdevelopment houses extremely low-income andchronically homeless individuals in the KentCounty area. Visit: http://www.greencommunitiesonline.org/.

Freddie Mac and Centerline CompleteSecuritization of $2.8B Tax-Exempt AffordableHousing Bond Portfolio on December 27,securing 383 bonds through 275 multifamilylow-income housing tax credit propertiesrepresenting approximately 52,000 currentlyoccupied apartment units, with an additional5,500 in construction or substantialrehabilitation. (Info)

'Housing Solutions Week 2008': January 29to February 1, sponsored by theNational Housing Conference (NHC) andits research affiliate the Center forHousing Policy, featuring online eventsas well as an in-person workshop inWashington, DC. They will focus on ways tomaximally expand the availability of homesfor working families, and launchHousingPolicy.org (a guide to state and localhousing policy). (Info)

National Community Development AssociationAnnual Conference: January 23-25 inWashington, DC, starting with a lobbyingeffort on Capitol Hill followed by more thantwo full days of sessions including updateson Community Development Block Grant formulareforms and the re-engineering of theIntegrated Disbursement & Information System(IDIS). Info: NCDA, (202) 293-7587.

NACEDA Summit to Feature ForeclosurePrevention Panel. NACEDA's experts willexamine both the national picture and whatstates, with the input from CDCs, are doingto solve this crisis. On the State level,both legislative achievements and remediationefforts will be discussed. So mark thedate--March 31-April 2--for NACEDA's SecondAnnual Capacity Building and PolicySummit, Washington, DC at the DoubleTreeHotel. NACEDA group rate of $189 pernight is available. Call (202) 232-7000 toreserve room--mention NACEDA Summit toreceive discounted rate. (Book early toensure a room and the rate.)

HOPE VI Eight-fold Funding Increase BillPasses in House, Green Provisions Intact.Whereas recent and current-year funding forthe beleaguered program has hovered around$100 million, this $800 millionreauthorization bill would keep HOPE VI alivethrough 2015. H.R. 3524, introduced byFinancial Services Housing and CommunitySubcommittee Chair Maxine Waters (D-CA),includes an amendment to require one-for-onereplacement of razed HOPE VI units. Anamendment to weaken green building standardrequirements was defeated, 169-240.Green-supporting governors had sent a letterto the Financial Services Committee Chair andRanking Member, Reps. Barney Frank (D-MA) andSpencer Bachus (R-AL). H.R. 3524 now awaitsaction in the Senate, as does its companion,S. 829.

CDBG $1B Increase for Anti-ForeclosurePurposes Proposed. Under the CommunityForeclosure Assistance Act of 2007,introduced in mid-December by Sens. NormColeman (R-MN) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT), theextra Community Development Block Grantprogram money would go through states tocertified housing counseling agencies, whichwould support individual residents withcounseling services only (not foreclosureprevention, refinancing assistance, orloans). With support from several majornational organizations representing cities,local officials and community developmentgroups, S. 2455 awaits action from the SenateBanking Housing & Urban Affairs Committee.

USDA Rural Development Office ClosingsProhibited by Congress in its FY08omnibus appropriations act, requiring thatpotential impact on cost and program deliveryfirst be determined, and that any closure orrelocation be justified and reported toCongress at least 60 days in advance. Theappropriations committees issued a jointstatement expressing concern about officeclosures, as recorded in the CongressionalRecord (12/17/07), pp. H15761-62.

National Affordable Housing Trust FundEndorsement: See below, under StateDevelopments / Maine.

Senate Small Business Committee LeadersSeek More SBA Funding for FY09, asarticulated in a January 8 letterfrom Chairman John Kerry (D-MA) and RankingMember Olympia Snowe (R-ME) to White HouseOffice of Management & Budget Director JimNussle. While the Small BusinessAdministration in FY08 received a $0 millionboost--its first increase since 2000--theamount is not adequate, they wrote.

USDA-RD Rental Program Expanded to IncludeFarmworker Housing, according to the FY2008 omnibus appropriations act, which makesSection 514/516 properties eligible for theMulti-Family Housing Preservation andRevitalization Restructuring Program. In FY2006 and 2007, Rural Development offered suchfunding through a Notice of Funding Available(NOFA) in the spring.

California Home Ownership PreservationInitiative: $4.6M Raised to supportanti-foreclosure efforts of mortgagecounseling agencies over the next two years,courtesy of initiative partners CaliforniaReinvestment Coalition, Merrill Lynch,HSBC-North America, Wachovia Bank, ComericaBank, Wells Fargo Bank, CountrywideFinancial, Citi, Bank of America, SanFrancisco Foundation, and CaliforniaCommunity Foundation. Info: AlanFisher at (415) 864-3980; www.calreinvest.org.

Maine Legislature Endorses NationalAffordable Housing Trust FundLegislation. The state's House and Senatepassed a joint resolution on January 10 urgingthe President and Congress to create the Fundin a "timely manner." Among the co-sponsorsof the respective U.S. Senate and House TrustFund bills (S. 2523 and H.R. 2895) are fourof Maine's delegation,including both senators. More info: GregPayne of the Maine Affordable RentalHousing Coalition.

New York Governor Proposes $1B UpstateRevitalization, $400M Housing OpportunityFunds. The former includes a regionalplan to aid local development, full fundingfor a second round of city-based projects,housing aid, parks, and broadband access, andwould result in an estimated 10,000 new andrehabilitated affordable housing units,according to Gov. Eliot Spitzer (D), rollingout the plan on January 16. The HousingOpportunity Fund would be administered by theState of New York Mortgage Agency, promotingpublic-private partnerships to provide homeloans. The plan includes supportive housingand help for residents with disabilities tolive independently, as well as foreclosurelegislation to protect homeowners. Housing,preservation, and community groups havevoiced their support.

W.Va. Governor Proposes $50M EndowmentFund to Stimulate High-Tech IndustriesThrough Universities. The "Bucks forJobs" initiative, offered to the legislatureby Gov. Joe Manchin (D) during his State ofthe State address on January 9, would havepublic-private matching investments supportresearch at West Virginia University andMarshall University. The idea follows a modelin neighboring Kentucky, where stateinvestments to two universities reportedlyhave resulted in 62 new companies and 870 jobs.

New York Court Decision Upholds EminentDomain on Brooklyn Project. A stateSupreme Court justice on January 11 ruledmost of the local citizens' complaintsinvalid regarding Atlantic Yards developmentto include a sports arena for the Netsprofessional basketball team and 16 high-riseapartment and housing buildings containing4,500 residential units (2,250 of them to beaffordable housing). Officials of the leadplaintiff, Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn,said they will appeal, calling the projectunconstitutional.

San Francisco Voters to Decide onAffordable Housing Measure in November. Aproposed city charter amendment would requirethe city to spend an estimated $2.7 billionover 15 years to rebuild and restore housingfor residents earning less than the city'smedian income (now $64,267 for a family of four).

Thermal Requirements for Manufactured HousingExplained in USDA-RD Administrative Notice4322 (Dec. 18, 2007), listing HUD standardsin specific counties, available online or from Rural Developmentoffices. Contact WilliamDowns, (202) 720-1499.

Rural Homelessness Capacity BuildingProgram Launched by the HousingAssistance Council, with help from theNational Alliance to End Homelessness,providing technical assistance, audio-webtrainings, and online information toorganizations serving rural homelesspopulations; grants to selected organizationsworking in high-need communities. Visit http://www.ruralhome.org/rhcbindex2.phpor contact RHCBstaff, 1-877-842-RHCB.

Housing Health Info/Discussion AvailableOnline from the Alliance for HealthyHomes through an email newsletter and twolistserves--Leadnet and Healthyhomesnet. Goto http://www.afhh.orgfor more information or to subscribe.

Texas Wins Economic Development 'State ofthe Year' Award from BusinessFacilities magazine. With $15.4 billionin investments and 9,335 new jobs created,Texas stood out among the 26 states thatprovided information on their five largesteconomic development projects. Alabama placedsecond; rounding out the top five wereMichigan, Louisiana, and Connecticut.

Rural People, Rural Policy InitiativeDeadline: January 25 for new proposals tojoin the Kellogg Foundation initiative, whichbuilds networks for policy change.Information and applications are at http://www.wkkf.org/rprp.Contact CarolineCarpenter, (269) 969-2262.

USDA-RD Removes Thermal Standards forExisting Single-Family Homes. Newconstruction not affected. See FederalRegister, 12/11/07, pp. 70220-22 or http://www.hudclips.org.Contact MichelMitias, RD, (202) 720-9653.

Federal Individual DevelopmentAccounts. Standing notice issued by theDepartment of Health and Human Services forthe Assets for Independence DemonstrationProgram. Eligible are nonprofits, governmententities, credit unions, and others.Deadlines: January 15 and March25 in 2008, 2009, and 2010. Contact AFIstaff at (202) 401-4626, afiprogram@acf.hhs.govor online.

New Market Tax Credits. Up to $3.5billion in equity investments will beavailable. The CDFI Fund will give specialconsideration to applicants with successfulpast nonmetro NMTC use. Deadline: March5. Visit http://www.cdfifund.govor call (202) 622-9046. See Federal Register,12/28/07, pp. 73976-87. Contact CDFI Fundstaff, cdfihelp@cdfi.treas.gov,(202) 622-6355.

Consumer Lending Protectionsproposed bythe Federal Reserve. Due date: 90 days afterpublication in the Federal Register. Clickfor proposal.Contact Kathleen C. Ryan, Fed, (202) 452-2412.

Copyright © 2007 by NACEDA. All rightsreserved. Any republication must be creditedto NACEDA.