RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, the federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program was initiated with passage of the Housing & Community Development Act of 1974, Public Law 93-383; and

WHEREAS, the Act's primary objective was stated as "the development of viable urban communities, by providing decent housing and a suitable living environment and expanding economic opportunities, principally for persons of low and moderate income"; and

WHEREAS, over the ensuing thirty years, the CDBG program has provided a flexible block grant that allows communities to prioritize their needs for public facilities, housing construction and rehabilitation, public services, and necessary infrastructure; and

WHEREAS, the City and County of Honolulu, and the counties of Hawaii, Maui and Kauai, receive CDBG grants from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and have utilized the grants to provide a plethora of much-needed facilities and services that have benefited low- and moderate-income households across the State of Hawaii; and

WHEREAS, the fiscal year 2006 budget offered by the current presidential administration eliminates the CDBG program in its entirety by combining it with seventeen other programs into two new programs, and reducing funding for the consolidated programs to $3.7 billion and transferring them to the Department of Commerce which has no experience in community development; and

WHEREAS, elimination of the CDBG program has been denounced by the United States Conference of Mayors, the National Association of Counties, the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials, the National League of Cities, the National Community Development Association, and the Local Initiatives Support Corporation; now, therefore

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2005, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Legislature expresses its strong support for the CDBG program and urges Hawaii's Congressional Delegation to oppose the elimination of this valuable program and to support its restoration into the Housing and Urban Development budget at its current funding level of $4.7 billion; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to each member of Hawaii's Congressional Delegation and to the Mayor of each county.

Report Title:

CDBG Program; Support