President-elect Donald Trump announced a series of crucial nominations on Friday night, including tapping NFL veteran Scott Turner as Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and Russ Vought to return as the director of the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
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U.S. Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN-05) signed a letter to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), opposing the agencies’ recently adopted mandates for new home construction.
On May 28, the HUD and USDA’s “Adoption of Energy Efficiency Standards for New Construction of HUD- and USDA-Financed Housing” mandate went into effect, requiring all HUD and USDA-financed single-family homes to be constructed under the 2021 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC).
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Governor Bill Lee and Department of Economic and Community Development (TNECD) Commissioner Stuart McWhorter recently approved $27.3 million in grants that will be distributed across 64 Tennessee counties.
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Arizona House Speaker-Elect Ben Toma (R-Peoria) filed a complaint against the City of Tucson (COT) for amending its Fair Housing Code in a way he said is unconstitutional.
“The adopted ordinance violates state law and our Constitution. To put it plainly, no matter the reason, Arizona’s ninety-one cities and towns are bound by the laws of this state. We hold this expectation for our citizens, and we will do the same for our local governments,” said Toma.
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A church organization Monday held a ribbon cutting ceremony on new affordable housing units in Memphis.
The Church of God in Christ (COGIC), a Pentecostal church with more than six million members, said its new affordable housing units, 20 apartments called 280 Vance, will help lower income Memphians live downtown.
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced he is no longer waiting on the federal government to move take action on a “deplorable” subsidized housing complex in Jacksonville. DeSantis slammed the “lack of interest” from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for allowing the living conditions to become so run down that rats have infested the complex.
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SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA – In the latest skirmish over California’s homeless crisis, the state’s governor, Gavin Newsom, asked President Donald Trump on Thursday to stop withholding federal housing vouchers that could benefit 50,000 homeless people.
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Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D-MN-05) new “Homes for All Act” would cost more than $1 trillion over a 10-year period and has a goal of building 12 million “public and affordable” housing units.
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by Jason Hopkins Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Ben Carson pushed back against a bevy of criticism from Democratic lawmakers over a White House proposal that would exclude all illegal immigrants from public housing. Carson testified in the House Financial Services Committee on Tuesday to discuss a range of topics. Numerous Democrats attacked the Republican for his involvement in a plan that, according to a recent HUD study, could potentially kick as many as 55,000 legal children out of their homes. “The Trump Administration’s proposal puts mixed-status families at risk of being evicted, separated, and left homeless,” committee chairwoman Maxine Waters said during the hearing. The California Democrat went on to call the plan a “cruel proposal.” “The ‘D’ in HUD does not stand for ‘deportation,’” said Democratic New York Rep. Carolyn Maloney. “We cannot create affordable housing for Americans by throwing other Americans out in the street with no place to go.” Other Democrats made similar comments throughout the hearing. The criticism follows moves by the Trump administration to restrict who can qualify for housing assistance. While illegal immigrants are already barred from receiving federal housing subsidies, families of mixed-immigration status can score these benefits as long…
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by Jason Hopkins The Department of Housing and Urban Development concluded a new proposal to evict illegal aliens from government-subsidized homes would send over 55,000 children out into the streets. The proposal, which was first reported by The Daily Caller in April, is meant to tighten regulations surrounding federal subsidies for low-income housing. Under current law, illegal immigrants are barred from receiving federal housing subsidies, but families of mixed-immigration status can score these benefits if at least one of the members was born in the U.S. or is the spouse of a citizen. The new White House proposal, pushed by senior adviser Stephen Miller, would require that all family members be of “eligible immigration status.” “We’ve got our own people to house and we need to take care of our citizens,” an administration official told The Caller in April. “Because of past loopholes in HUD guidance, illegal aliens were able to live in free public housing desperately needed by so many of our own citizens. As illegal aliens attempt to swarm our borders, we’re sending the message that you can’t live off of American welfare on the taxpayers’ dime.” An analysis by the Department of Housing and Urban Development…
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Murfreesboro officials will use $150,000 of federal taxpayer money to address homelessness, although, when asked, city officials did not describe their specific goals or how they plan to use this money to get results. City Council members voted this month to use a federal HUD grant to tackle homelessness in the city, according to a press release. The $150,000 in grant funding plus an $11,250 administrative allowance allocation comes from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development through the Tennessee Housing Development Agency. The City of Murfreesboro was one of four jurisdictions in Tennessee eligible to apply, the press release said. City spokesman Mike Browning did not tell The Tennessee Star specifically how city officials plan to use this money to get results. The press release went on to say that on related grant funding, HUD also awarded an $18,503 grant to the city to support the Executive Director of the Housing, Health and Human Services Alliance of Rutherford County in planning initiatives such as coordination of activities and project monitoring. H3ARC, through its member agencies, provides services to homeless individuals or individuals in danger of becoming homeless, the press release said. As The Star reported last year, similar…
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A bill currently under consideration by the Ohio Legislature would exempt disability service pay, made to honorably discharged veterans, from state income taxes. House Bill 18 (HB 18) was introduced to the Ohio House of Representatives last month. Wednesday, the bill finally came to a vote where it passed by an almost unprecedented 98-0 votes. It has now been introduced tot he Senate where it is expected to pass with similar support. In a statement, the bill’s lead sponsor, Rep. Erica Crawley, (D-Columbus) stated: This is a great example of how the legislature can work together to deliver real results that have a minimal fiscal impact on the state and keep Ohio’s promise to our veterans by eliminating hardships, Rep. Crawley is a Navy veteran. The Department of Veterans Affairs defines disability compensation as: Disability compensation is a monetary benefit paid to Veterans who are determined by VA to be disabled by an injury or illness that was incurred or aggravated during active military service. These disabilities are considered to be service connected. To be eligible for compensation, the Veteran must have been separated or discharged under conditions other than dishonorable. As of 2013, over 800,000 of the more than 21…
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Facebook was charged with discrimination by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development because of its ad-targeting system. HUD said Thursday Facebook is allowing advertisers to exclude people based on their neighborhood by drawing a red line around those neighborhoods on a map and giving advertisers the option of showing ads only to men or only to women. The agency also claims Facebook allowed advertisers to exclude people that the social media company classified as parents; non-American-born; non-Christian; interested in accessibility; interested in Hispanic culture or a wide variety of other interests that closely align with the Fair Housing Act’s protected classes. HUD, which is pursuing civil charges and potential monetary awards that could run into the millions, said Facebook’s ad platform is “encouraging, enabling, and causing housing discrimination” because it allows advertisers to exclude people who they don’t want to see their ads. The claim from HUD comes less than a week after Facebook said it would overhaul its ad-targeting systems to prevent discrimination in housing, credit and employment ads as part of a legal settlement with a group that includes the American Civil Liberties Union, the National Fair Housing Alliance and others. The technology at the heart…
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by Fred Lucas Senate Democrats have stalled nominees to fill key posts in the Department of Housing and Urban Development, even while complaining about the agency’s performance. An NBC News report last week alleged that HUD’s staffing problems were the fault of President Donald Trump and HUD Secretary Ben Carson. HUD’s enforcement office is at its lowest level since 1999 of moving against bad landlords who get federal subsidies, according to NBC. But the network’s story didn’t address the the high-level nominees that Senate Democrats have stalled from taking office through procedural tactics. Four top-level HUD nominees await Senate action more than 22 months into Trump’s four-year term. Chief among these is Robert Hunter Kurtz, who Trump initially nominated to be HUD’s assistant secretary for public and Indian housing on Sept. 15, 2017. As has been the case with many other stalled nominations throughout the federal government, Kurtz isn’t particularly political, but rather has a career with HUD and public housing. Kurtz served at HUD under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. He was deputy director of Detroit’s Department of Housing and Revitalization under Mayor Mike Duggan, a Democrat. The Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee sent…
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By Robert Romano “I would incentivize people who really would like to get a nice juicy government grant [to look at their zoning codes].” That was Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Ben Carson in an Aug. 13 interview with the Wall Street Journal, announcing changes to the way the Trump administration would interpret the Obama era Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing regulation. There’s only one problem. This year, under Division L, Title II of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2018, Section 234, Congress passed a provision that states, “None of the funds made available by this Act may be used by the Department of Housing and Urban Development to direct a grantee to undertake specific changes to existing zoning laws as part of carrying out the final rule entitled ‘Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing’ … or the notice entitled ‘Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Assessment Tool’ …” A similar provision passed the Senate 87 to 9 in 2016. This overturned part of the regulation that conditions receipt of $3 billion of annual community development block grants to more than 1,200 cities and counties to rezone neighborhoods along income and racial criteria. The regulation said, “This final rule, and Assessment Tools and…
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News4 I-Team has followed up with its stunning report that it says shows former Nashville Mayor Karl Dean used relief funds from the 2010 flood to build Ascend Ampitheater. Dean denied the accusation during a gubernatorial debate Tuesday night after opponent Craig Fitzhugh brought it up, WSMV said. Last week News4 I-Team reported that $7.4 million in HUD disaster relief money didn’t go to flood victims; it went to design and engineering work for riverfront development, including Ascend Amphitheater. Dean’s former communications director Janel Lacy tweeted, “strong rebuttal by Karl Dean in response to a false statement about the use of flood recovery funds.” Paige Hill, communications director for the Karl Dean for Governor campaign, gave a statement saying Dean went through a three-year period of working with Metro Council and other stakeholders to “repurpose” $7 million of Community Development Block Grant funds to build a seepage cut-off wall along the Riverfront Park where the ampitheater is located. “This infrastructure fix slows down the movement of underground water and helps decrease the impact of future floods. The city’s actual investment in flood mitigation totaled well over the $7 million that was repurposed.” The I-Team report cited invoices and other paperwork…
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Plugged In with Greta Van Susteren interviewed U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Ben Carson at his office to discuss the legacy of the late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Greta Van Susteren: “Mr. Secretary, nice to see you sir.” Secretary Ben Carson: “Nice to see you.”
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The proposal accepted by Nashville Mayor Megan Barry to redevelop Fort Negley Park calls for affordable housing subsidized by government programs including tax credits and Section 8 vouchers. The plan by Cloud Hill Partnership has already drawn fierce opposition because of concerns about historic preservation. Located south of downtown, the land is home to a fort built during the Union occupation of Nashville during the Civil War and also includes Greer Stadium, where the Nashville Sounds minor league baseball team played until moving to a new stadium north of downtown in 2015. City officials have not yet entered into a formal agreement with Cloud Hill and negotiations for the public-private partnership are stalled pending a protest by a competing developer whose bid was turned down. In addition to affordable and workforce housing, Cloud Hill’s plan includes green space, creative spaces for artists, offices, and shops and restaurants. It also calls for preserving the fort and honoring and protecting history. The residential component includes plans for 294 apartments. They would include 87 studio, 68 one-bedroom, 119 two-bedroom and 20 three-bedroom apartments. At least 80 of the 294 apartments would be reserved as affordable units for those earning less than 50 percent of the…
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