On February 1, President Clinton submitted his fiscal year 2000 budget request to Congress. Under the proposal, the federal government is expected to take in $1.883 trillion in revenues and spend $1.766 trillion on federal programs and services. Like last year, the President is projecting a large budgetary surplus — $117 billion for 2000. Based on a health economy and continued growth, the President predicts that surpluses will continue to accumulate, reaching $2.4 trillion over the next decade and up to $4.4 trillion within 15 years. Of course the White House and Congressional leaders disagree on the size of the surplus and how to use it.

President Clinton's proposal calls for placing 62 percent of the total surpluses in a reserve fund to ensure the solvency of Social Security; setting aside 15 percent to ensure the solvency of Medicare; using 12 percent to set up a new "Universal Savings Account" which would serve as a n incentive to get working Americans to save more to supplement their retirement income; and using 11 percent to spend on a number of defense and domestic initiatives. Congressional Republicans agree with the President that a portion of the surplus should be reserved for Social Security. However, they would like to see a significant amount — 10 percent — used to provide an across-the-board tax cut. Most of the surpluses generated over the next to years will come from the Social Security Trust Fund, but $750 million of the estimated $2.4 trillion will come from non-Social Security resources. Republicans are hoping to return this to the American people in the form of a tax cut. The President favors tax cuts to help working families save for retirement, to help older Americans pay for long-term care services, to help disabled individuals cover the cost associated with employment, and to assist parents with child care expenses.

The President's new budget proposal provides continued support for many existing programs. These include $1.275 million for the next-generation COPS program, which would place 50,000 additional police officers on the streets and provide additional support for fighting crime; $1 billion in additional funds to continue the welfare-to-work program; $25 billion in new bonds that would be made available to renovate about 6,000 public schools; $1.4 billion for the second installment of the President's plan to recruit and hire 100,000 teachers by 2005 and reduce class size in the early grades to 18 students. The plan also includes $400 million for after-school and summer-school programs, and $6.1 billion for public transportation systems. The president also requested a$100 million increase for a total of$1.5 billion to provide medical treatment and drug assistance to individuals infected with HIV/AIDS.

The most interesting new proposal in the President's budget is something called the New Market Tax Credit initiative that is designed to help spur $6 billion in private-sector investments in distressed communities. Another new tax credit initiative will make $700 million available to support $9.5 billion in bond authority for use by state and local communities to preserve and promote green space and brownyards redevelopment.

Included in the President's budget submission is a request of $25 billion for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. This represents a $2.5 billion increase from HUD's FY 1999 budget. HUD's FY 2000 budget request includes $4.775 billion for the CDBG program, an increase of $25 million over the FY 1999 funding level. HOME received a slight increase of $10 million dollars, bringing the total requested for the program to $1.610 billion for FY 2000. HUD estimates this funding level for the program will provide 84,400 additional units of housing across the nation. HUD's homeless assistance programs received a budget request of $1.12 billion for FY 2000, a $150 million increase over FY 1999. This includes 18,000 new Section 8 vouchers to provide permanent housing for the homeless and $5 million for the creation of a new Multi-Agency Demonstration designed to test new ways to link homeless assistance programs under the McKinney Act to mainstream services. HUD's budget request includes $240 million for the HOPWA program, an increase of $15 million over FY 1999.

The budget provides $25 million in FY 2000 (as a set-aside within CDBG) for a Homeownership Zone initiative, designed to fund large-scale homeownership projects in targeted areas. HUD estimates this budget amount will support five to seven homeownership zones in FY 2000.

As required in the FY 1999 appropriations bill, HUD's budget provides $20 million for the creation of a new Office of Rural Housing and Economic Development. This new office will encourage new and innovative approaches to addressing rural housing and economic development needs.

HUD's budget request includes 100,000 new vouchers for FY 2000, including 42,000 targeted at worst-case housing needs, 25,000 for welfare-to-work recipients, 18,000 for the homeless, and 15,000 for the elderly. In addition, HUD's budget would provide $10.6 billion to renew existing Section 8 tenant-based and project-based contracts.

A total of $941 million has been requested for HUD's elderly and disabled programs. The Section 202 program (elderly housing) will receive $660 million dollars, the same funding level as in FY 1999. The Section 811 program (disabled housing) will receive $194 million, the same funding level as in FY 1999. In addition, the budget request includes $87 million to fund 15,000 rental units for the elderly to reside in projects funded by the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit.

HUD's budget request includes $80 million for Lead-Based Paint Reduction (a stand-alone program), the same level as FY 1999. Of this amount, $10 million will be used for HUD's Healthy Homes Initiative, which addresses housing-related childhood diseases and injuries.

The budget request will provide $100 million over 10 years to each of the 15 newly designated urban Empowerment Zones and will provide an additional $3 million to each of the 15 newly named Strategic Planning Communities. The budget includes $50 million for Brownfields, an increase of $25 million from FY 1999.

HUD's FY 2000 budget is flooded with many new initiatives, including:

• $125 million for the creation of a Community Empowerment Fund. The fund is intended to increase capital for business investment and job creation in underserved inner-city and rural areas.

• $50 million in FY 2000 for a Regional Empowerment Zone Initiative. This initiative is designed to help Empowerment Zones and Enterprise Communities link their economic development strategies to the broader economy of the surrounding metropolitan region.

• $10 million for Metropolitan Job Links. This initiative will allow a place-based, regionally oriented workforce approach in one or more housing developments operated by community development corporations or other private or nonprofit housing managers to assist TANF recipients in becoming employed.

• $37 million for a new America's Private Investment Companies initiative. This initiative is intended to leverage private investment in distressed urban and rural areas.

• $5 million (set-aside in CDBG) for the creation of a Citizens Volunteer Housing Corps. The initiative is designed to train local citizens to undertake housing rehabilitation.

• $50 million for a Regional Connections initiative to encourage inter-jurisdictional smart- growth initiatives.

• $50 million for an Abandoned Buildings initiative. This initiative is aimed at redeveloping abandoned buildings (apartment buildings, homes, warehouses, office buildings, etc.) in urban areas.

• $5 million for a new Multi-Agency Demonstration initiative. This initiative is designed to develop strategies for linking the McKinney Act homeless programs with mainstream services.

First, HUD's FY 2000 budget requests more CDBG set-asides than that of FY 1999; up from $292 million to $428 million. This year, HUD did not wait for Congress to add set-asides, it requested them. HUD has, once again, requested funding for homeownership zones ($25 million) as a set-aside within CDBG.

Second, there is a new Community Empowerment Fund (CEF) that piggy-backs with the Economic Development Initiative (EDI) that will target $125 million in funds to distressed urban and rural areas through CDFI's, SBA loans, and the new Economic Development Administration revolving loans. It is unclear how this program will work, but it will have to work through a Section 108 Loan Guarantee if EDI funds are being used. Also included in the CEF is targeting $625 million in Section 108 loan guarantees specifically for job creation activities. Projects must include business expansion and modernization, start-up costs for small and medium-sized businesses, preservation and expansion of existing industrial facilities, and retail and commercial revitalization initiatives, such as grocery stores and neighborhood shopping centers.

Particularly troubling about that CEF is the lack of flexibility that grantees will have in using the Section 108 Loan Guarantee Program. It appears that there is even a set-aside in the Section 108 program, of $625 million. Will the entire program become one big set-aside? In FY 1999 Congress made it emphatically clear that if HUD wanted new programs they would have to be reuthorized by Congress, such as the Regional Connections program. Given that set-asides of $20 million relate directly to the empowerment zones, it will be very interesting to see how Congress reacts to these.

Another concern is the number of "boutique" programs found throughout HUD's FY 2000 budget. HUD is proposing at least nine new programs in its budget. These program are defined by their nature (economic development, housing, etc.) and are often funded at less than $50 million dollars. These smaller, more delineated programs are funded through competitions. Jurisdictions may find themselves spending much time completing applications for these funds. Furthermore, the funding allotted to these programs could instead be allocated to CDBG and HOME, increasing the funding for these formula-allocated programs. It is probably safe to say that Congress will hack away at many of these programs before HUD's FY 2000 appropriations bill is finalized.

Furthermore, HUD's FY 2000 budget provides a slight increase of $10 million for the HOME program, while increasing the set-asides to $77 million, a $27 million increase. Within these set-asides, HUD proposes creating a new pilot program, the Regional Affordable Housing Initiative, to target $25 million of the HOME funds for regional-housing and job-linked strategies.

What's New in CPD Programs?

Clearly, HUD's overarching policy direction in CPD is that economic development, on a regional level, is the catalyst to uplift economically distressed areas. For those communities that have not felt the overflow of economic good times —urban and rural — a regional approach to development is the answer. HUD has used new initiatives and targeted funds from existing programs to push communities in the "regional economic development is the answer" direction.

The following chart shows how much of a role the CDBG program will in play in this regional economic development direction.

As part of the FY 1999 HUD Appropriations Bill, Congress required HUD to grant exceptions from the national median income limit to at least 10 jurisdictions. HUD recently granted exceptions to 68 high-cost jurisdictions. With this exception, these jurisdictions can now use up to 80 percent of the area median as the income limit for the HOME and CDBG programs. NCDA was told that in determining which jurisdictions would be selected for the exception, HUD basically selected the highest 10 MSAs (and their corresponding jurisdictions, a total of 68 in all). NCDA has heard from some other high-cost jurisdictions which would like an exception to this regulation. NCDA is working with congressional staff to see if further exceptions can be granted. We would first suggest that any jurisdiction interested in receiving an exception to this regulation, should send their House and representatives a letter. NCDA further suggests that you copy both Andrew Cuomo and Cardell Cooper in the letter. Please contact Vicki Watson or Chandra Western, if you have any questions.

On Friday, February 5, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Andrew Cuomo awarded $56.3 million in grants to protect thousands of low-income children and their families from the health hazards of lead-based paint in their homes.

Children under age six will benefit the most from the grants, because their developing nervous systems are particularly vulnerable to damage from lead. In addition, children's play activities can expose them to lead-based paint hazards such as lead-contaminated dust, soil and paint chips.

"America's children need and deserve our protection from lead hazards." Cuomo said. "Our goal is to eliminate this terrible—and totally preventable—environmental problem so that more children have the opportunity for healthy lives."

The Centers for Disease Control reports that nearly 1 million children ages one to five have elevated blood lead levels which amounts to about 5 percent of all children in that age group. The majority of cases involve low-income children. Exposure to lead can cause permanent damage to the nervous system and widespread health problems. Effects include reduced intelligence and attention span, hearing loss, stunted growth, reading and learning problems, and behavior difficulties.

Lead-based paint was banned from use in all homes in 1978 to protect people from the hazards of lead. However, many older houses and apartments still contain lead-based paint.

The $56.3 million funded 46 grants to state and local governments, non-profit community groups, research organizations and businesses for the following activities:

$50 million —Lead hazard control programs in privately owned low-income housing

$3.2 million —Scientific research on lead-based paint

$1.6 million —Local lead hazard awareness campaigns

$1.5 million —National lead hazard awareness campaign

The $50 million in grants for lead hazard control will go to state and local governments in 15 states:

CALIFORNIA- Alameda County, $1.2 million; Riverside County, $2.6 million; San Francisco, $3 million

CONNECTICUT— New London, $1.1 million.

ILLINOIS—Madison County. $3.2 million.

KENTUCKY—Jefferson County, $1.1 million.

MARYLAND— $1 million.

MAINE— $2.8 million.

MASSACHUSETTS—Boston, $3 million; Maiden, $1.8 million; Quincy, $2 million.

NEW YORK—Westchester County, $4 million.

NORTH CAROLINA—Durham, $2.4 million.

OHIO—Columbus, $1.1 million; Franklin County, $1.6 million

PENNSYLVANIA—Harrisburg, $1.2 million.

RHODE ISLANDC$3 million; Providence, $4 million.

TEXAS—San Antonio, $4 million.

VERMONT—$3 million.

WISCONSIN—Milwaukee, $3 million.

Grants for local lead hazard awareness campaigns will go to: CALIFORNIA - Esperanza Community Housing Corporation, Los Angeles, $100,000; Consumer Action, San Francisco, $60,000. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA - La Clinica del Pueblo, $100.00. ILLINOIS Children's Memorial Hospital, Chicago, $168,091. MARYLAND - Baltimore, $200,000. MISSOURI - Kansas City, $190,257. MONTANA Lewis and Clark County Health Department, Helena, $91,702. NEW JERSEY -$170,591. NEW YORK - West Harlem Environmental Action, New York City, $200,000. PENNSYLVANIA- Philadelphia, $200,000. WISCONSIN - Kenosha County, $26.197. VERMONT -$108,579.

Grants for the national lead hazard awareness campaign will go to these companies: DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA -- Consumer Research Council, $100,000. ILLINOIS -- National Safety Council in Itasca, $100,000. NEW YORK - All in New York City: Children's Television Workshop, $68,408. Henry J. Kaufman 8~ Associates, $100.000. Vanguard Communications, $999,958. PENNSYLVANIA-Monsoon Microstudios, Inc. in Philadelphia, $100,000.

Grants for Lead Hazard Control Research will go to: CALIFORNIA - University of California, Santa Cruz: $138,388. MARYLAND - Kennedy Krieger Research Institute, Baltimore, $1,174,813. MISSOURI - St. Louis University, St. Louis, $343,000. NEW YORK - Research Foundation of SUNY/Health Science Center, Syracuse, $190,337. NORTH CAROLINA- Research Triangle Institute, Research Triangle Park, $169,020. OHIO - Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, $102,578; University of Cincinnati, $1,085.376.

The Clinton Administration launched the Campaign for a Lead-Safe America in 1997 with an initial $50 million in HUD grants (its slogan is "Take the Lead Against Lead"). The effort has brought the following groups together to protect the nation's children from lead poisoning: HUD, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Centers for Disease Control, state and local governments, business and industry representatives, groups involved in environmental issues and public health, and community groups.

In addition, HUD and EPA continue to jointly fund a toll-free phone line (1-800-424-LEAD) to give callers information in English and Spanish about lead hazards and about disclosure requirements for people selling and renting homes.

The following provides descriptions of the lead-funded programs.

LEAD HAZARD CONTROL PROGRAMS - $50 million in grants will go to help private owners of low-income housing built before 1978 to remove lead-based paint hazards, such as lead-contaminated paint, dust and soil. In addition, the funds can be used for testing blood of young children to determine lead levels, inspection and testing of homes for lead hazards, temporary relocation of families during lead control work, community education and outreach, and collection and analysis of data on lead hazards. The hazard control grants build local capacity to ensure that licensed contractors are available to do the work safely. Before the grant program was implemented, only one state had consumer protection licensing laws for inspectors and abatement contractors. Today, 36 states have such laws.

SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH ON LEAD-BASED PAINT - $3.2 million in grants will fund research on ways to reduce the cost of lead hazard detection and control. The assistance will help streamline risk assessment and examine new low-cost lead hazard control methods in inner-city rental housing. Previous research efforts have reduced the cost of lead-based paint inspections by one-third. Research has also shown that lead hazard control programs are successful in reducing children's blood lead levels by more than 20 percent.

LEAD HAZARD AWARENESS CAMPAIGNS - $1.6 million for local public education campaigns and $1.5 million for a national campaign involving the private sector. Grants are being awarded to national organizations such as the National Safety Council and the producers of the Sesame Street television show, as well as local non-profit community organizations. The grants will build upon the partnerships HUD has developed with Home Depot, Lowe's and Ace Hardware to inform as many people as possible about the hazards of lead. By alerting parents to the dangers of lead-based paint, the education campaign is designed to help parents avoid exposing their children and themselves to lead.

HUD's Office of CPD will continue its training on CDBG, HOME, economic development, and relocation. The training sessions are free and will be conducted by ICF Kaiser. The following provides you with the schedule for the training through next spring. Space is limited, so register early. Contact your local HUD field office or ICF Kaiser at 703-934-3392 for further information.

Because of the short turnaround time for the Continuum of Care survey, NCDA has extended the deadline to February 26. Please fax your survey to Vicki Watson at 202-887-5546. NCDA would like to extend its thanks to all of the communities that have already completed their survey. Many of the comments regarding suggested changes to the Continuum of Care plan have been forwarded to HUD staff. Some of the most frequent comments received from survey respondents include the following: (1) Fund renewals separately from new project requests; (2) Adopt a more realistic/fairer needs formula; (3) Seek additional funds to ensure adequate dollars for renewals; (4) HUD needs to reconfigure pro rata amounts for communities showing capacity; (5) HUD needs to publish the Super NOFA earlier in the year; and (6) HUD needs to clarify the use of the "pro rata need" score in the competition. Please call Vicki Watson at 202-887-5532, if you have any questions regarding the survey.

After reading dozens of e-mails regarding a new reporting requirement that HUD field staff have initiated on grantees, the only thing we could do was contact, in writing, the Director of the Office of Executive Services, Joseph D'Agosta and the Director of Field Operations at HUD Headquarters, Nadab Bynum.

Mr. Bynum, who participated in the NCDA Winter Meeting, said that with the institution of IDIS, there was never any intent on HUD's part to require grantees to submit monthly reports of any kind. He said that in early discussions there had been consideration of quarterly reporting through IDIS, but not on paper. He indicated that field staff were aggressively attempting to follow a directive from Headquarters on their own performance ((BOP) the Business Operations Plan ) and were requesting grantees' assistance because some of the information required in the field staff reports was not readily available or easily accessible through IDIS. He re-emphasized that it was never HUD's Headquarters intent to require grantees to submit monthly reports.

NCDA staff informed Mr. Bynum that they recognized that it may not have been HUD Headquarter's intent to require monthly reports, but the field staff were doing just that. NCDA staff also reminded Mr. Bynum of the relationship that field staff have with grantees and that sometimes nonexistent requirements become reality at the field staff level. Mr. Bynum assured NCDA that he is preparing a directive for field staff on this very point. It is unclear how long this new "directive" will be in effect, but at least grantees know that it didn't come from headquarters.

The Council of Urban Economic Development has asked that NCDA include in its next mailing (this one) a short survey. Please complete the attached survey form and send it to CUED. Thank you.

The President's FY 2000 budget requests $1.610 million for the HOME program. Of the $1.610 million amount, the budget requests $77 million s in set-asides. This leaves $1.533 to be formula-allocated to states and local participating jurisdictions.

The set-asides include some old and some new initiatives. There is $3 million for insular areas, $20 million for housing counseling activities, $7 million for HUD's management information systems, $22 million for technical assistance, and $25 million for a new Regional Affordable Housing Initiative.

The Regional Affordable Housing Initiative is a pilot program designed to provide funds for regional housing strategies. Funds will be used for planning, regulatory streamlining, technical assistance, and housing development. According to HUD, applicants must demonstrate a close link between a regional housing plan and the geographic pattern of job growth in the region. Of the $25 million provided for the program in FY 2000, $17.5 million will be allocated by the HOME formula. HUD will allocate the remaining $7.5 million by competition.

In response to your requests NCDAonline.org has been enhanced. As part of these ongoing enhancements, we will eventually discontinue the PAL system. We hope you will let us know what you think of the improvements and offer suggestions for further enhancements.

There is also some confusion on entering in e-mail addresses directly online. Once you are in the members only section, click on the appropriate e-mail link and type in your name in the Asubject" area. In the e-mail message area, type in Asubscribe memberlist" and your e-mail address. Don=t forget to put a space between memberlist and your e-mail address. This should get you on the listserv.

Attached to the Washington Report is an updated flyer on the products available to assist communities with their celebrations of the 25^th anniversary of the CDBG program. Please note that BASEBALL CAPS ARE NOW AVAILABLE for purchase. This flyer is also available through NCDAonline.

NCDA staff are 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 Carla Sauls, carla@ncdaonline.org, whenever possible. If you are not set up for e-mail, please fax them to Carla. An electronic copy makes it easier to post the position on NCDAonline. You can now post your job announcements directly on NCDAonline. If you post job announcements directly to NCDAonline, please forward a copy of the announcement to Carla Sauls so that it can be included in the next issue of the Washington Report.

December 21, 1998. Office of Management and Budget - Alternative Approaches for Defining Metropolitan and Non-Metropolitan Areas - Notice. This notice intends to review the standards currently used to define metropolitan areas and to propose standards for defining non-metropolitan areas following the 2000 census. OMB defines metropolitan areas (MAs) in the United States and Puerto Rico for statistical purposes and follows published standards. Statistical purposes include the collection, tabulation, and publication of data by federal agencies for geographic areas. Decisions related to the criteria used to define MAs are made by OMB in consultation with members of the Metropolitan Area Standards Review Committee (MASRC), a group representing various statistical agencies within the federal government. The last revision of the MA standards was issued in 1990. OMB currently is conducting a full review of the MA concept and standards.

This notice describes potential revisions to the MA standards based on findings from the ongoing review. The notice begins with a brief history of the standards and a discussion of why they may need to be revised. It then lists the findings of the review process to date, distinguishing between points of general agreement and questions still needing to be resolved. The notice presents four approaches to defining metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas that answer in varying ways the unresolved questions.

Issues for Comment. OMB is interested in receiving comments from the public on:

1. The suitability of the current standards;
2. Principles that should govern and proposed revisions to the standards;
3. Reactions to the four approaches outlined in this notices and;
4. Proposals for other ways by which to define metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas.

In particular, OMB seeks responses to the following key questions that will determine how metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas will be defined in the future:

• What geographic unit should be used as the "building block" for defining areas for statistical purposes;

• What criteria should be used to aggregate the geographic building blocks into statistical areas;

• What criteria should be used to define a set of statistical areas of different types that together classify all the territory of the nation;

Comments must be received on or before February 12, 1999. Send them John D. Fitzsimmons, Population Division, Bureau of the Census, Washington, DC. The e-mail address is: http://www.whitehouse.gov/WH/EOP/OMB/html/fedreg.html. [NCDA has been in contact with OMB on this and is following up with comments. We will keep the membership updated on this issue.]

December 28, 1998. Fair Housing Performance Standards for Acceptance of Consolidated Plan Certifications and Compliance with Community Development Block Grant. On October 28, 1998, HUD published a proposed rule that would amend the regulations on Consolidated Submissions for Community Planning and Development Programs to establish a standard for determining if the jurisdiction's certification regarding affirmatively furthering fair housing is inaccurate. The proposed rule would also amend the regulations on Community Development Block Grants to provide performance review standards for affirmatively furthering fair housing requirements. The public comment period on this rule was scheduled to close on December 28, 1998. This document extends the public comment period on this proposed rule to February 26, 1999.

February 4, 1999. Announcement of Funding Awards of Fiscal Year 1999 Supportive Housing Assistance; Partial Funding. This notice announces funding decisions made by HUD for a portion of the funding available for fiscal year 1999 for the Supportive Housing Program. The purpose of the Supportive Housing Program is to promote the development of supportive housing and supportive services for the homeless. For FY 1999, HUD determined that terminating funding to high priority Supportive Housing Program renewal projects in Continuum of Care Homeless Assistance programs that were unsuccessful in the FY 1998 Continuum of Care Homeless Assistance competition would unduly threaten past investments that HUD has made in these projects and result in unacceptable reductions to services to homeless persons. To address the potential problems caused by not funding high-priority renewals in low scoring Continuums, and to avoid disrupting the philosophy of the Continuum of Care, HUD has decided to fund the 65 highest ranked Supportive Housing Program renewal projects which (1) passed threshold reviews in the FY 1998 competition, (2) were part of the unsuccessful Continuum of Care programs in the FY 1998 competition, and (3) were ranked within the pro rata share of funding based on a formula for need, when measured against the need of all applicants. The noncompetitive funding announced through this notice is $20,998,934 or approximately 2 percent of the FY 1999 funds for HUD's homeless assistance programs.

February 3, 1999. Operating Fund Rule; Notice of Intent to Establish a Negotiated Rulemaking Committee and Notice of First Meeting. This notice announces the establishment of a Negotiated Rulemaking Advisory Committee as required by the Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act of 1998. The purpose of the Committee is to discuss and negotiate a proposed rule that would change the current method of determining the payment of operating subsidies to public housing agencies. The rule solicits public comment on the proposed membership of the committee and explains how persons may be nominated for membership on the committee.

January 29, 1999. Electronic Submission of Required Data by Multifamily Mortgagees. This rule requires mortgagees that hold or service multifamily mortgages insured by HUD to submit certain data electronically to HUD. This rule applies to all multifamily mortgagees in their responsibility to report mortgage delinquencies, mortgage defaults, mortgage reinstatements, elections to assign mortgages to HUD, and withdrawal of assignment elections.

January 29, 1999. Notice of Funds Availability Inviting Applications for the Community Development Financial Institutions Program. This notice invites applications for technical assistance funding under the Community Development Financial Institutions Program. The funding may be used for activities that enhance the capacity of both CDFIs and entities proposing to become CDFIs, such as the training of management and other personnel; the use of consulting services for the development of programs, loan or investment products; improving financial management and internal operations; enhancing a CDFI's community impact; the acquisition of technology to increase operating efficiencies and other activities deemed appropriate by the Fund.

January 28, 1999. Notice of Funding Availability for the Welfare-to-Work Section 8 Tenant-Based Assistance Program for FY 1999. This notice announces the availability of $248.2 million in assistance under HUD's Section 8 Welfare-to-Work Rental Voucher Program. The purpose of the program is to provide tenant-based rental assistance to help eligible families make the transition from welfare to work. Eligible applicants include housing agencies, Indian tribes, and tribally designated housing entities. Two or more housing agencies or Indian tribes and TDHEs may apply jointly. The application deadline is April 28, 1999.

January 25, 1999. Nondiscrimination in Programs and Activities Receiving Assistance Under Title I of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974. This rule establishes procedures to file a complaint for a claim of discrimination under HUD's community planning and development programs funded under Title I of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974. The rule also provides that hearings on complaints be conducted in accordance with HUD's consolidated hearing procedures for civil rights claims. This rule is intended to inform members of the public how to file complaints and how HUD will act on their complaints.

January 19, 1999. Home Equity Conversion Mortgages; Consumer Protection Measures Against Excessive Fees. This final rule implements several measures designed to provide protection to elderly homeowners in connection with HUD's Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) insurance program. The HECM program offers FHA-insured first mortgages providing payments to elderly homeowners based on the accumulated equity in their homes. This final rule is designed to protect homeowners in the HECM program from becoming liable for payment of excessive fees for third-party provided services of little or no value. This rule takes into account the comments received on the March 16, 1998 proposed rule.

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