Gillibrand, with 41 Senate Colleagues, Urges Appropriations Committee to Designate $3.3 Billion to HUD Community Development Funding in Fiscal Year 2018- President’s Budget would Eliminate Funding to HUD Program

Over the Last 40 Years CDBG Program Has Invested More Than $149 Billion in Communities Nationwide & Provided Services Helping Over 133 Million People In Fiscal Year 2016, NYS Received Over $288 Million in CDBG Funding

Washington, DC – (RealEstateRama) — U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, with 41 Senate colleagues, urged federal appropriators to include $3.3 billion in federal funding for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 budget. CDBG is a federal program that provides communities with resources to address a wide range of unique community development needs. Over the last 40 years, the program invested more than $149 billion nationwide and provided services helping over 133 million people. In FY 2016, New York State received $288,016,281 in Community Development Block Grant funding.

“Investing in economic development programs is essential to the health of our families and the economic strength of our communities,” said Senator Gillibrand. “The CDBG program has revitalized communities across New York State and has helped create new jobs and bridge the gap in quality housing for residents in need. I will continue to work hard to include this funding in the Fiscal Year 2017 and 2018 appropriations bills to support essential community development projects throughout New York.”

CDBG funds are used for the following:

• Acquiring and rehabilitating real property that may be used for public works, historic preservation, or other public purposes;
• Reconstruction of public facilities, neighborhood facilities, senior centers, centers for the handicapped, recreation facilities, and street lights;
• Providing assistance to neighborhood-based organizations, including community development corporations, in support of economic development, housing assistance, or neighborhood revitalization activities;
• Micro-lending;
• Brownfield redevelopment;
• Creation of revolving loan funds;
• Rehabilitation of housing owned and occupied by low- and moderate-income persons.

Joining Senator Gillibrand were Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Chris Coons (D-DE), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Edward Markey (D-MA), Gary Peters (D-MI), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Robert Casey (D-PA), Al Franken (D-MN), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Angus King Jr. (I-ME), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Thomas Carper (D-DE), Jeffrey Merkley (D-OR), Tom Udall (D-NM), Joe Manchin III (D-WV), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Bill Nelson (D-FL), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Jon Tester (D-MT), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Bernard Sanders (I-VT), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Joe Donnelly (D-IN), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), and Kamala Harris (D-CA).

The full text of the Senators’ letter is included here.

A breakdown of funding for New York State in FY 2016 is included below. In addition to these funding amounts, New York State received $45,961,285 in FY 2016 funding to award to communities around the state.

New York City

Long Island

Capital Region

Central New York

Western New York

Rochester-Finger Lakes

Hudson Valley

North Country