"It's not often that Mountain View gets the chance to shape housing legislation that could have an impact far beyond its borders. But the city recently inspired the introduction of a bipartisan bill that could make it easier for municipalities to use federal funds for affordable housing. Last week, U.S. Reps. Sam Liccardo (D-California) and Mike Flood (R-Nebraska) introduced legislation that would "unlock" restrictions on how cities spend Community Development Block Grants."
"Each year, Mountain View gets an annual allocation of CDBG funds, based on a federal formula. It typically amounts to about $600,000 per year, according to Mountain View Housing Director Wayne Chen. While Mountain View has been able to use CDBG funds to improve existing buildings, the city has run into challenges using the funds for new construction projects because of particular CDBG conditions, Chen said."
"The Unleashing Needed Local Options to Construct and Keep Housing (UNLOCK) Act would provide local municipalities with more flexibility to use CDBG funds to construct affordable housing. "Republicans and Democrats have a lot to disagree about these days for good reason, but there's a lot we should be able to agree on with regard to housing," Liccardo told the Voice."
Mountain View inspired bipartisan legislation to ease restrictions on Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) spending to expand affordable housing. Representatives Sam Liccardo and Mike Flood introduced the UNLOCK Act to provide municipalities more flexibility to use CDBG funds for new construction of affordable housing. The House Subcommittee on Housing solicited local input and received Mountain View recommendations advocating simplified rules for CDBG expenditures. Mountain View receives about $600,000 annually in CDBG allocations and has used funds for building improvements but faces constraints when attempting new construction due to specific CDBG conditions.
#affordable-housing #community-development-block-grant-cdbg #local-government #bipartisan-legislation
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