Trump Budget to Slash Hud Again

Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson, seen here in Feb, spoke before the House and Senate appropriations committees Wednesday. Alex Wong/Getty Images hide caption

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Alex Wong/Getty Images

Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson, seen here in February, spoke before the House and Senate appropriations committees Wednesday.

Alex Wong/Getty Images

Lawmakers told Housing and Urban Evolution Secretary Ben Carson Wednesday that in that location'due south little chance Congress volition have the Trump administration's plan to make deep cuts in housing and evolution programs.

The president'south 2020 budget calls for eliminating the Community Evolution Block Grant program, the public housing majuscule fund and the Home grant program for more affordable housing, for a one-twelvemonth savings of more $7 billion. But these programs are popular among lawmakers, especially local officials who say they desperately need money to help their low-income communities.

House Appropriations Commission Chairwoman Nita Lowey of New York noted that the administration'south new housing budget echoed last year's proposal, which was rejected by Congress on a bipartisan basis. "This year, your proposal contains even deeper cuts and would greatly reduce public housing and stop most customs development block grants. Information technology would lead to more people struggling to detect affordable housing and more than people falling into homelessness," she said.

The ranking Republican on the HUD appropriations subcommittee, Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida, warned Carson, "Simply like last yr, we're unlikely to hold on a lot of the things y'all've put forward."

Maine Republican Susan Collins, who chairs the Senate panel that oversees HUD spending, told Carson later in the twenty-four hour period that she was "securely troubled" by many of the assistants'south proposals. "Depression-income households face an affordable housing shortage beyond the country, and in many locations that shortage is reaching crunch levels," she said.

Carson did piffling to button back but said the administration wants to provide safe, decent and affordable housing "while being skilful stewards of taxpayer dollars." He added that recently enacted tax breaks to encourage investment in almost 9,000 economically distressed communities — called Opportunity Zones — would take the identify of some of the proposed cuts.

"All the things that all of these programs that nosotros've had in place for many years are doing, the Opportunity Zones volition do in spades, like it's on steroids," he told the Business firm panel. The assistants estimates that Opportunity Zones volition attract over $100 billion in private investment and create jobs, although some analysts have questioned how much low-income residents will be helped.

House lawmakers as well asked Carson about the status of disaster help for Puerto Rico and other areas of the country that accept suffered devastating impairment due to hurricanes, floods and fire. HUD is in the process of providing these communities with billions of dollars to help them rebuild.

Subcommittee Chairman David Toll of Due north Carolina asked Carson about reports that the White Firm has blocked aid for Puerto Rico because President Trump has fabricated no hole-and-corner of his dissatisfaction with the island regime and how information technology is using the money. On Mon, Trump tweeted that Puerto Rico "tin't do annihilation right, the place is a mess — zip works." HUD'southward inspector general's office appear final week that it would look into allegations that the White House has interfered with distribution of the aid, which was canonical by Congress.

"To your knowledge did you or anyone else at HUD have conversations with the president or with the White Firm or other senior administration officials well-nigh delaying or diverting disaster funding for Puerto Rico?" asked Price.

Carson replied, "No, but nosotros have had conversations about how to brand sure that the money gets there and that information technology is used in an appropriate way." He said $1.5 billion has already been sent to the island and that an agreement for an additional $8.2 billion has been approved. Carson called reports that the administration is trying to block or tiresome downwards the disaster aid "completely inaccurate as far every bit HUD funding is concerned."

Speaking to lawmakers, Carson likewise addressed carbon monoxide detectors, inspection notices and the upcoming 2020 census count. Here are the highlights:

Carbon monoxide detectors: Carson said his agency volition at present inspect all public housing units for carbon monoxide detectors later reports that about a dozen residents have died from carbon monoxide poisoning since 2003, including two people in South Carolina earlier this year.

Inspection find: Carson said HUD volition give public housing authorities a fourteen-day notice of upcoming inspections, rather than a much longer warning menstruum, to prevent them from covering upwardly serious deficiencies in the buildings. Thousands of units around the country are in serious disrepair. Housing regime arraign lack of federal funding.

Census count: Carson said an accurate demography count is a "very high priority" for his agency, which often distributes aid on the footing of population and other demographics. When Carson told California Democratic Rep. Pete Aguilar that he was "not enlightened of anyone trying to curtail" a complete and accurate count, a dubious Aguilar responded, "Have yous been to a Cabinet meeting?" The Trump administration has been pushing for the 2020 census to include a controversial question on citizenship condition, something many groups say will discourage immigrants and others from participating in the decennial count.

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Source: https://www.npr.org/2019/04/03/709529287/bipartisan-disapproval-over-trump-administrations-housing-program-cuts

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