The Community Development Block Grant program, run by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, is aimed at America’s cities. It pays for housing projects in low-income areas, provides relief to disaster areas, and pays for various other community development and poverty relief programs.
The program saw cuts under the Bush administration. As a candidate, Obama pledged to restore funding.
Obama’s proposed 2010 budget increases the CDBG’s funding from $4 billion to $4.5 billion, while also calling for internal reforms to make the program more accountable. This increase would largely make good on Obama’s pledge to restore funding for the program.
The money still needs final approval from Congress. Currently, the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2010, which includes $4.45 billion to fund the CDBG, has been passed by the House and the Senate. The bill must now get through a conference committee, after which it will be readied for Obama’s signature.
The bill is well on its way to passage, but until it meets Obama’s pen, we rate this promise In the Works.