With pressure from the Pentagon for additional resources to maintain U.S. troops in Bosnia and its staff in Washington, conferees on HR 3579, the mid-year supplemental spending bill that will provide relief for El Nino related natural disasters, and U.S. forces in Bosnia and the Middle East hope to have all their differences ironed so that it gets to the President by the end of this week. During their session yesterday, conferees hammered out non-controversial issues. Today the major issues that remain to be dealt with are: changes to student loan policy and which pieces of a crop insurance and food stamp bill should be included in this must-past spending bill.

The Senate conferees agreed with the House to cut up to $2.2 billion from Section 8 reserves to help finance the bill. Conversely, House conferees agreed to add up to $1.6 billion in additional disaster aid for FEMA. Still unresolved is what the conferees will do with a House provision that would block the Administration from launching a military attack on Iraq unless Congress passes a law to permit such an operation.

LOCAL OFFICIALS TESTIFY BEFORE HUD/VA APPROPRIATIONS SUBCOMMITTEE

Local officials submitted testimony before the HUD/VA Appropriations Subcommittee in support of the President's request for increased funding for housing and community development programs. On April 22^nd , Arlington County, Virginia Supervisor Albert Eisenberg presented testimony for local officials before the HUD/VA Subcommittee members and Chairman Jerry Lewis (R-CA). The themes of this years' testimony included: supporting the Administration's request for CDBG and HOME funding; a general policy in opposition of set-asides in CDBG and HOME; strong opposition to using Section 8 reserves as off-sets for supplemental appropriations; and a continued overall support of HUD programs.

NCDA AND NATIONAL GROUPS HOST CONGRESSIONAL BRIEFING ON CDBG AND HOME

On April 23^rd , NCDA and a group of national organizations representing local and state governments and non-profits hosted a briefing, sponsored by Senators Mack (R-FL) and Kerry (D-MA) to highlight the importance of the Community Development Block Grant Program (CDBG) and the Home Investment Partnerships, (HOME) Program. The event was scheduled to follow-up on activities of National Community Development Week.

The event was well attended by Congressional staff and many representatives from the non-profit community. The panel was well represented by a variety of community development practitioners. The speakers were: Michael Doaks, Director of the Department of Housing and Community Development for Prince Georges County in Maryland; Larry Segal, Director of the Pennsylvania Office of Community and Economic Development; Yvonne Stennett, Executive Director, Community League of West 159^th Street in New York; and Duane Yoder, Executive Director, of the Garrett County Community Action Committee in Maryland.

A briefing packet was prepared for the event. As a method of reaching a large number of Congressional staff, this briefing has become an annual event. The sponsoring organizations in addition to NCDA, included the: National Association of Counties, U.S. Conference of Mayors, Association of Local Housing Finance Agencies, Coalition for Low Income Community Development, Housing Assistance Council, Local Initiatives Support Corporation, National Association of Housing Partnerships, National Council of State Housing Agencies, National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials, National Rural Housing Coalition, Seedco, and The Enterprise Foundation.

EMPOWERMENT ZONE NOFA FOR FY 1999 FUNDING RELEASED

The Department of Housing and Urban Development released the application package and instructions to grantees on the process for applying for the next round of Empowerment Zone funding. The package is also available on the internet through HUD's website and at Community Connections. NCDA members should also note that this NOFA and funding is tied to the FY 1999 fiscal year. The $50 million from HUD's budget has not been appropriated yet, nor has the $1.7 billion for the new EZs that is proposed to come out of the HHS budget, through Title XX programs. The applications are due October 9, 1998. If Congress does not approve this program in HUD's of the HHS budget, grantee applications are basically null and void. The following is the schedule for the remaining EZ application workshops.
 

Denver, CO	May 4, 1998	Renaissance Denver Hotel	(303) 399-7500
Providence, RI	May 7, 1998	Rhode Island Convention Center	(401) 458-6000
Washington, DC	May 12, 1998	Hyatt Regency Washington	(202) 737-1234
Long Beach, CA	May 18, 1998	Long Beach Convention Center	(562) 436-3636
Seattle, WA	May 20, 1998	The Westin Seattle	(206) 728-1000
Newark, NJ	May 28, 1998	Sheraton Newark Airport	(972) 690-5500

 
BROWNFIELDS NOFA DUE OUT THIS WEEK

The $25 million Notice of Funds Available (NOFA) in FY 1998 funds for the Brownfields Economic Development Initiative (BEDI) is also scheduled to be published in the Federal Register this week. BEDI — part of the Economic Development Initiative (EDI) — work in tandem with the Section 108 Loan Guarantee program as grant funds (gap financing) to complement revitalization efforts that includes using the Section 108 loan guarantee program. To be eligible for these funds, grantees must have or intend to submit applications for a Section 108 loan that includes a Brownfields redevelopment component.

HUD NOTES

IDIS UPDATE

A total of 960 grantees are now "live" on the Integrated Disbursement and Information System. HUD expects conversion of all CPD grantees by the end of the year. HUD has developed a CD rom as a new means for training grantees on the use of IDIS. Currently, the CD rom training disk incorporates only the CDBG program. The HOME, ESG and HOPWA programs will be incorporated into the disk during the summer.

Beginning in June, twelve HUD-selected grantees will be able to use IDIS via HUD's web page. This is an effort on the part of HUD to gradually phase out its Sprint Link system. All grantees will be able to access IDIS via the internet by the end of the year.

HUD also indicated that eventually CPD's homeless competitive programs (Supportive Housing, Shelter Plus Care, Section 8 Moderate Rehabilitation for SROs) will be integrated into the IDIS.

HUD expects to undertake an electronic data interchange (EDI) pilot project with Los Angeles County in a couple of months. This EDI will allow Los Angeles County to use their current grants management system without the need to complete double entries — as is often the case with IDIS — and provide HUD with the project and expenditure data they want. If this feature works, it is anticipated that any grantee could purchase IDIS compatible EDI software and enter data in a format that works for the community and gives HUD what it needs to track programs and funding.

HUD hopes to achieve a record homeownership rate of 67.5 percent by the year 2000. The current rate is 65.7 percent. Homeownership Week marks the anniversary of the National Partners in Homeownership, a national effort launched by President Clinton a few years ago to assist the Administration in reaching this record goal.

Homeownership Week marks a time when local communities celebrate and involve themselves in activities centered around encouraging homeownership. HUD will be sending out Homeownership Week Planning Guides to all of its grantees within the next week. HUD's Event Planning Guide provides ideas, planning tips and media tools, as well as general information for planning an event. We are asking members to sponsor an event or series of events during Homeownership Week, to promote and highlight community efforts to expand homeownership opportunities throughout the country. If you are planning to conduct an activity for National Homeownership Week, please complete the attached registration form. We want to ensure that NCDA members' celebration activities can be added to HUD's list of national Homeownership Week events.

WORST CASE HOUSING NEEDS CONTINUES TO GROW

According to the report Rental Housing Assistance — The Crisis Continues, worst case housing needs continue to grow despite a strong economy. The report was released at a news conference by HUD on April 28. The report documents the fact that there are 5.3 million households in this country that have "worst case" housing needs — either paying over half of their incomes for rent, living in severely substandard housing, or both.

The number of households with worst case housing needs grew by nearly 400,000 from 1991 to 1993 — an 8 percent increase — and remains unchanged from 1993 to 1995 at the record level of 5.3 million households. Further findings identified in the report indicate that the number of working families needing housing assistance is increasing, the stock of unsubsidized affordable housing stock is declining, and suburbs are experiencing the largest increase of worst case housing needs. According to the report, there has been a sharp increase in the number of working poor families needing housing assistance, with the total number of families increasing to 265,000 — 24 percent — from 1991 to 1995. The number of suburban households with critical housing needs jumped by 146,000 from 1991 to 1995 — a 9 percent increase. For a copy of the report contact your HUD field office or access HUD's web site at www.hud.gov

MARK-TO-MARKET UPDATE

HUD is still developing its proposed regulations for operation of the Mark-to-Market Program. According to the Housing Development Reporter, the IRS is expected to issue a ruling within the next couple of months on whether or not owners who participate in the program will incur a tax liability from using below market rate soft second mortgages.

HUD ANNOUNCES SECOND ANNUAL SECRETARY'S AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE

Enclosed with this mailing is an entry brochure outlining the Second Annual Secretary's Award for Excellence, sponsored by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in partnership with Professional Builders magazine and the National Association of Homebuilders.

The award program recognizes design excellence produced through cooperative public/private efforts that expand homeownership opportunities for underserved American famlies. The deadline for submission of the entry form is July 1, 1998. There is a $100.00 fee for each entry. Upon receipt of entries, a detailed information packet will be forwarded to each applicant. See brochure for specific details.

A NEW TWIST FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS

The following is a program that might be of interest to members who wish to capitalize on the income streams generated by their revolving funds. This program could provide a ready source of capital for any kind of development activity, based on the portfolio's performance history.

The Van Kasper & Company Small Business Loan Securitization Program
San Francisco headquartered Van Kasper & Company has established a fully staffed investment banking department that specializes in small business loan purchase and securitization. It's mission is to locate loan product that fits established criteria as determined by the bond rating services; bond trustee and bond counsel. It's purpose is to allow creation of an investment grade rate private placement security and provide liquidity to various community development agencies so that their region may benefit from new businesses, jobs and tax revenues.

The securitization will be a grantor trust private placement in asset-backed form. It will have a senior/subordinate structure and anticipates receiving an "A" investment grade bond rating from at least one nationally recognized bond rating service. Private placement investors will be qualified institutions as determined by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The private placement structure is designed to provide a significant level of over collaterization against a loan term default rate of 20-25%. Loan servicing could continue with the existing servicer and Van Kasper & Company will provide a backup servicer. The fee for this service will be competitive and the loan purchase discount modest.

Loans with the following characteristices would be eligible for consideration for the Van Kasper Loan Program:

1. One year of seasoning.

2. 5-8% average loan coupon.

3. 4 to 6 years remaining loan term.

4. 3 to 5 years of payment history.

5. Clearly defined representation and warranty of ownership and performance.

6. Loan portfolio of $5 million or more.

Community development agencies that desire further information are asked to contact: James A. Laurie, Senior Vice President, Van Kasper & Company, 600 California Street, Suite 1200, San Francisco, CA 94108. Telephone 415-675-2491 or 800-652-1747 ext. 491. Fax, 415-954-0654. Internet: jlaurie@vkco.com.

NCDA NOTES

NCDA LOSES ONE OF ITS OWN: PAUL POULOS

It is with deep sadness that we convey the news that Paul Poulos, Past President of NCDA and Executive Director of the Community Service Agency of Fall River, Massachusetts passed away on April 26, 1998. Expressions of sympathy should be directed to Hudner Oncology, 795 Middle Street, Fall River, MA 02721. An active member of NCDA and of the Region 1 Community Development Association, Paul will be truly missed. We have enclosed his obituary which details his life of service to community development.

NCDA TECHNOLOGY NEWS:
NCDA WEBSITE UPDATE

The NCDA Website is ready to accept new passwords. In approximately one week each NCDA member will receive a new "zipcode-based" password. This password will be temporary and will require member communities to select new individualized passwords. Beginning May 16, 1998 the current passwords for "ncdaonline" will no longer be valid. Please use the temporary passwords to log on to ncdaline to create a permanent user name and password for your community. By June 16, if members have not logged on to the systems with their new passwords, they will not have access to the system. On June 30, 1998, if members have not forwarded to NCDA a commitment form to pay dues, an expected date of payment of dues, or have paid dues, your permanent passwords will be deleted from the system and you will no longer have access until dues are paid.

NCDA staff will be sending each member the information they will need to successfully navigate the new and improved NCDA homepage. The new homepage will provide more services and links to other sites and allow members to communicate more effectively with each other and NCDA staff. We are still investigating how we can provide members with membership discounts if they use the internet to receive NCDA mailings and publications. It will greatly reduce the amount of time it takes for members to receive information and, allow them to make the information available to their entire staff. The Peer Assistance Line (PAL) is linked to the homepage, as are members' e-mail addresses. Members can e-mail directly from the homepage. It is a wonderful system and hopefully encourage more members to make use of the internet. The possibilities are endless.

NCDA TO KICK OFF THE 1999 NATIONAL COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT WEEK CAMPAIGN IN MIAMI

At this year's Annual Conference in Miami, the membership will decide on the 1999 CD Week Poster and campaign which will celebrate 25 years of the CDBG program. It is our intent to start our year-long campaign to highlight the great accomplishments of the CDBG program with a year-long celebration culminating in the biggest National Community Development Week ever. We hope to raise $100,000 (mostly from banks and other for-profit sources) to finance this effort, which will include poster development, press kits for communities, the CD Week Guidebook, and year-round T-shirt, buttons, and hat sales. We hope to get national press attention during CD week with a celebration on the steps of the U.S. Capitol during CD Week.

As a prelude to this year-long effort, we invite NCDA's members to participate in the poster design competition. If you, or someone you know would like to submit a design for the 13^th annual celebration of National Community Development Week and the 25^th anniversary of the CDBG program campaign, please provide an 8" X 10" color rendering of your concept for the poster to Chandra Western, not later than May 25, 1998. This deadline is hard and fast, as staff will be leaving Washington for Miami on June 2, 1998. For more information on the poster design competition, please contact Chandra Western at NCDA.

Call for Agenda Items

In order to encourage and extend opportunities to the membership to bring issues of interest or concern to the agenda of the Board of Directors of NCDA, the following proposal is presented:

The president of the organization shall issue a "Call for Agenda Items" no less than 45 days prior to any regularly scheduled meeting of the Board of Directors. This call for agenda items may be included in the regular informational mailings to the NCDA membership and should include a listing of NCDA board members in each region. Items must be received at the NCDA office at least two weeks prior to the scheduled meeting to be referred to the president for inclusion on the agenda.

Members wishing to place an item on the agenda must find a Board member who is willing to act as a sponsor of the agenda item. The Board member shall submit the item to the NCDA office. As an alternative, any item signed by three active members and sent to the NCDA office will also be placed on the agenda. Either the member proposing the item or the Board member sponsoring the item should be prepared to present the item at the Board meeting. The prior submission of a brief written position statement is encouraged.

Proposed agenda items should be of general interest to the membership. They should not be of limited or strictly local interest.

The Board of Directors is encouraged to discuss proposed items and/or refer them to the appropriate committee. The president of the Board will make the final decision as to which items to include on the agenda. Should he/she decide that any items are not appropriate for inclusion, he/she will provide the Board with a list of those items and a brief reason why they were not included.

Posting Job Announcements

NCDA staff is ever willing to include position vacancies of member communities in the NCDA Washington Report. To better assist members as well as staff, we ask member communities to e-mail position vacancies to Karen Means, michael@ncdaonline.org, whenever possible. If you are not set up for e-mail, please fax them to Karen. An electronic copy makes it easier to post the position on NCDAonline.

Wednesday, June 3

12:00 - 5:00 p.m.
Registration and Information

1:00 - 5:00 p.m.
CDBG Nuts and Bolts

1:00 - 5:00 p.m.
HOME Refresher Course

6:00 - 8:00 p.m.
NCDA Board of Directors Meeting

6:00 - 10:00 p.m.
Hospitality Suite

Thursday, June 4

8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Registration and Information

8:30 - 9:00 a.m.
New Members Orientation

9:00 - 11:00 a.m.
Welcoming Brunch - General Session

• Nominations Committee Committee Report: Bob Broughton

 
• 1999 CD Week Poster Development and Report on 1998 CD Week Strategy. We will discuss celebrating the 25^th anniversary of the CDBG Program.

12:30 - 1:30 p.m.
State Whips/Membership Committee Meeting

1:30 -3:00 p.m.
Committee Meetings

• Community Development Committee
• Economic Development Committee
• Professional and Program Development Committee
• Housing Committee, HOME and Homelessness
• Technology Committee

8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. 
Registration and Information

9:00 - 10:00 a.m. 
Opening General Session : HUD Briefings

10:00 a.m. - 1:00 a.m. 
City Projects Bus Tour

1:30 - 3:00 p.m. 
Concurrent Sessions

• Broadening the Community Development Political Base: Getting to Know Your State Counterparts and the Smaller Communities. We are closer than we think. 
  
  
• Software Demonstration. Application Oriented Designs will provide a demonstration of a software package designed specifically for entitlement communities to assist them with grant administration for HUD programs, that is compatible with the IDIS 
  
  
• Getting the Financial Community Involved in your Community's Development Efforts.

5:30 - 9:00 p.m. 
Special Conference Event

Saturday, June 6

8:30 - 10:30 
Closing Breakfast

10:30 - 1:00 p.m. 
Professional Development Session: Becoming a More Effective Manager

6:00 - 10:00 p.m. 
After Conference Event
 

To request a room reservation within the NCDA block, please ask for the NCDA Annual Conference, so that you receive the special conference rate of $110 per night. Conference participants have until May 13, 1998 to reserve a room at the guaranteed rate of $110 per night. After that date NCDA cannot guarantee that you will be guaranteed a room, or a room at the conference rate. 

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