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Washington, DC - The House Financial Services Committee today passed two rural housing-related bills today which will authorize $10 million in funding for the Housing Assistance Council (HAC) and $30 million for the Rural Housing and Economic Development (RHED) program respectively for Fiscal Year 2008. The two measures, H.R. 1980, the Housing Assistance Council Authorization Act of 2007, and H.R. 1982, the Rural Housing and Economic Development Improvement Act of 2007, were both authored by Congressman Ruben Hinojosa (D-TX).
“Twenty percent of our nation’s population lives in rural communities, yet far too many of these families live in conditions that are poor, inadequate, or run-down,” said Hinojosa. “These two bills will help improve overall quality of life by providing the needed resources to address the problem of substandard housing in rural America. I want thank Chairman Barney Frank and Congresswoman Maxine Waters for all their assistance and support on these two bills and for recognizing the importance of these two bills.”
“In the past Congress has not paid enough attention to issue of rural housing. I commend Congressman Hinojosa’s leadership in taking on this important issue,” said House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-MA).
The Housing Assistance Council Authorization Act of 2007 supports rural communities’ efforts to provide quality and affordable housing by authorizing HUD to provide the Housing Assistance Council (HAC) with funds for: technical assistance, training, support and advice to develop the business and administrative capacities of rural community-based housing development organizations; and, loans, grants, or other financial assistance for community-based housing development organizations to develop affordable housing options for low- and moderate-income families. The bill authorizes $10 million in funding for HAC in Fiscal Year 2008 and $15 million in Fiscal Years 2009-2014. The funding will allow HAC to continue providing financial and other aid to its national network of hundreds of rural nonprofit builders.
The Rural Housing and Economic Development Enhancement Act of 2007, authorizes $30 million for the RHED program in FY08 and $40 million for FY09 through FY13. This bill will help the RHED Program provide additional funding needed to increase and improve capacity building at the state and local level for rural housing and economic development and to support innovative housing and economic development activities in rural areas.
Capacity building includes a variety of initiatives ranging from: hiring and training staff, to making technology improvements to developing strategic plans. The programs grants are awarded to communities and used for architectural renderings, purchase of building materials, land acquisition, and/or construction. “The RHED directly supports the good work already being done by states. Its funding must be, at least, maintained so that families can continue benefiting from these combined efforts,” said Hinojosa.
In the proposed budget for FY08, the Administration proposed to eliminate many rural housing programs, including HAC and RHED. The proposed budget also eliminates all funding for the construction or preservation of affordable housing in rural communities.
“It is my hope that we can not only prevent additional cuts in funding for these critical programs that directly impact the lives of people living in rural communities, but also increase the funding for these programs to provide additional housing,” said Hinojosa. “These two bills will help improve the affordability, availability and quality of housing in Rural America by auth. They are a step in the right direction.”
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