BUSH BUDGET WOULD ELIMINATE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT

The Bush Administration's 2006 budget proposal, sent to Congress today, calls for the complete elimination of the Community Development Block Grant program, which provides nearly $30 million a year to the City of Cleveland.

CBDG and seventeen smaller HUD community grant programs would be replaced by a new "Strengthening America's Communities Initiative" in the Department of Commerce.

The HUD appropriation for CDBG in 2005 was $4.618 billion. The Commerce Department "replacement" would get nearly a billion dollars less... $3.71 billion in 2006.

As a block grant program, CDBG has provided a predictable flow of funds for discretionary use by U.S. cities and smaller communities. Cleveland has used its allocations for a wide variety of community investments in housing, commercial revitalization, code enforcement, infrastructure improvements, and community services like crime prevention and senior transportation.

More details as I get them.