Bush Proposes Modest Increase in HUD Budget

Inman News (02/05/08)
The Bush administration's proposed HUD budget for fiscal 2009 calls for a $1 billion increase to $38.5 billion. Funding for the federal HOME Investment Partnerships Program would rise by $263 million to $2 billion, providing additional affordable housing block grants to assist 13,000 more families. Rental assistance programs would get $29.4 billion under the plan, but the budget also calls for $1.6 billion in cuts to six other HUD initiatives. The budget calls for the elimination of the HOPE VI program and a $900 million funding cut to the Community Development Block Grant program. In related news, HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson says 75,000 homeowners have refinanced out of problem adjustable-rate mortgages since the start of the FHASecure program five months ago; and he insists that passage of legislation to broaden the Federal Housing Administration's loan guarantee program would help another 250,000 this year.