On April 21, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Alphonso Jackson testified before the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Subcommittee on Housing and Transportation. In detailing the FY2006 budget, he explained that the $28.5 billion request seeks to “lend a compassionate hand to individuals in need, while also using taxpayer money more wisely and reforming programs in need of repair. The HUD budget proposed by the President reflects this intent through three broad, yet focused strategic goals: promoting economic opportunity and ownership, serving society’s most vulnerable, and making government more effective.”
Explaining the administration’s vision for an “ownership society,” Secretary Jackson said that homeownership “is the key to financial independence, the accumulation of wealth, and stronger, healthier communities,” adding, “Homeownership creates community stakeholders who tend to be active in charities, churches, and neighborhood activities. Homeownership inspires civic responsibility, and homeowners are more likely to vote and get involved with local issues. Homeownership offers children a stable living environment, and it influences their personal development in many positive, measurable ways at home and at school.” Pointing to a gap in homeownership rates between non-Hispanic whites and minorities, he noted that in 2002, President Bush “challenged the nation to create 5.5 million new minority homeowners by 2010. Since the President’s challenge, 2.2 million minority families have joined the ranks of homeowners, and we are on track to meet the 5.5 million goal.”
Secretary Jackson said that the FY2006 budget would include $200 million for the American Dream Downpayment Initiative to “provide low- and moderate-income families with the funds and support needed to purchase their first home.” He noted that since December 2003, HUD “has distributed $162 million in downpayment funds to over 400 State and local governments. These funds have already helped over 3,500 families purchase their first homes of which more than 50 percent were minorities.” The budget would include $40 million for housing counseling “to assist over 700,000 families to become homeowners or avoid foreclosing on their homes.” Secretary Jackson said that President Bush “is also proposing a new Single Family Homeownership Tax Credit that could increase the supply of single-family affordable homes by an additional 50,000 homes annually.”
“As the primary federal agency responsible for the administration of fair housing laws,” Secretary Jackson stated, “HUD is committed to protecting the housing rights of all Americans, regardless of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, or disability.” Reflecting this “commitment,” the FY2006 budget would include $23 million for the Fair Housing Assistance Program and $16 million for the Fair Housing Initiatives Program.
Secretary Jackson said that another goal of the Bush administration is to end chronic homelessness in the United States. He indicated that the FY2006 budget “provides a record level of resources for permanent supportive housing for homeless individuals who have been on the streets or in shelters for long periods. The 2006 Budget provides $1.44 billion for Homeless Assistance Grants ($25 million of which is for the Prisoner Re-Entry Initiative), $200 million more than in 2005. Altogether, the Administration requests $4 billion in 2006 for Federal housing and social service programs for the homeless, an 8.5% increase.”
With regard to housing for special populations, Secretary Jackson explained that in FY2006 the Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) program would “fund an estimated 25 competitive grants and will provide formula funding to an estimated 124 jurisdictions and in total will provide an estimated 67,000 households with housing assistance.” He noted that the funding request “represents a 5 percent decrease from the FY2005 funding level. The reduction was one of a number of difficult choices the Administration made in formulating the FY2006 Budget, but one which is consistent with the goal of restraining spending in order to sustain economic prosperity.” He added, “HUD is seeking changes in the HOPWA formula that will improve the targeting of the program, so that HOPWA better supports those whom it was created to serve the most vulnerable persons, and individuals who are homeless or with very low incomes ahead of other low-income households.”
Finally, Secretary Jackson said that the FY2006 budget would include $119 million for the Office of Lead Hazard Control and the Healthy Homes Initiative “to eradicate childhood lead poisoning and prevent other housing-related childhood diseases and injuries.”
