Campaign Promises

Departments -> Housing & Urban Dev -> Community Development

ItemHousing & Urban Dev
Community DevelopmentGrade
HU-6 The Promise: "...will work to provide states and local governments with the resources they need to address sprawl and create more livable communities."
When/Where: Obama-Biden Plan: "Strengthening America's Transportation Infrastructure" dated 10/09/08.
Source: https://transportist.org/2008/02/
Status:On 05/21/10, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan correlated the alarming rate of home foreclosures with access to transportation, good schools and economic opportunity (i.e. jobs).

Under President Obama, the federal government took steps to advance sustainability among buildings and communities under a $3.25B "Sustainable Communities Planning Grants" program administered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) under the aegis of its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Neighborhood Development (LEED-ND) initiative.

The objective of the above grant program was to integrate green building into community development, help reduce sprawl, increase transportation choices, decrease automobile dependence, encourage healthy living, and protect endangered species. This is where a role for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Department of Transportation was defined in a partnership with HUD on 10/21/10.

The President's "Sustainable Housing and Communities Initiative" became an integral part of the Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) Program, later renamed the "Community Development Fund" (CDF). Starting with FY2009, the $3.900B appropriated for the CDBG under President Bush was supplemented by $3.000B under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009, signed into law on 02/17/09 by President Obama. During subsequent years, the CDBG/CDF was funded as follows:
FY2010....$4.450B plus $100M for disaster relief
FY2011....$3.501B
FY2012....$3.408B
FY2013....$3.308B plus $15.007B for disaster relief
FY2014....$3.100B
FY2015....$3.066B
FY2016....$3.359B
FY2017....$3.000B

This promise was fulfilled.		1.00
HU-7 The Promise: "The Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program is an important program that helps strengthen cities and towns throughout the nation by providing housing and creating jobs primarily for low- and moderate-income people and places...will restore funding for the CDBG program."
When/Where: Obama-Biden Plan: "Supporting Urban Prosperity", dated 09/11/08.
Source: https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/550008/barack-obama-2008-supporting-urban-prosperity.pdf
Status:Under the Bush Administration, the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program faced an uncertain future. Some members of Congress had thoughts of holding sustained funding in abeyance and making future funding contingent upon mandated reforms and proof that the taxpayers dollars were reaping the intended results.

As part of the Community Planning and Development (CPD) Program, the CDBG Program is the largest community and economic development program in the U.S. Government, reaching an estimated 7,000 local governments annually. It assists urban, suburban and rural communities to improve housing and living conditions, expands economic opportunities for low and moderate income persons, helps to create jobs through the expansion and retention of businesses, and helps local governments tackle serious challenges facing their communities. Counties use the flexibility of CDBG funds to partner with private and non-profit sectors to develop and upgrade local housing, water and infrastructure projects and human services programs.

The annual appropriation for CDBG formula funding is split so that 70% is allocated among entitlement cities and counties and 30% among the states. See Promise HU-6 above for CDBG funding levels.

President Obama requested and received sustained funding and kept the CDBG program alive by proposing adequate levels of funding in light of severe budget constraints during his two terms in office.

This promise was fulfilled.		1.00