Slight Rise in HUD Funding Expected for State

California is expected to receive only a slight increase in its share of the proposed fiscal year 2003 Housing and Urban Development budget announced by HUD Secretary Mel Martinez on Monday. The total HUD budget request of $31.5billion represents an increase of $2.1 billion over the fiscal year 2002 budget.

California is expected to get $274.9 million for the Home Investment Partnerships program, an increase of $33.7 million over the current funding. The program provides funds for the building, buying and rehabilitation of affordable housing for rent or homeownership. It also provides direct rental assistance to low-income families.

Under President Bush’s proposed budget, California also would receive about $593.3 million in Community Development Block Grant funding, a slight increase over last year’s budget. The block-grant program funds economic development and housing.

The proposed 2003 budget calls for an additional 34,000 Section 8 vouchers nationwide, an 89% increase over last year’s allocation. The federal program, which helps low-income families find affordable rental housing, also permits California housing agencies to provide mortgage assistance in lieu of a rental subsidy.

The Public Housing Operating fund would receive an increase in funding, as would the Habitat for Humanity program, which requires low-income families to help construct the homes they will own.

Although the HUD budget would provide a boost to local initiatives, the funding falls short of what advocates say is needed to ease California’s housing shortage.

“The Bush administration once again has produced what is essentially a flat-line budget for affordable housing,” said Sheila Crowley, president of the National Low Income Housing Coalition, which is calling for a $15-billion increase in federal housing appropriations. “The president’s housing budget is wholly inadequate.”