79R12250 CLE-D

By:  Cook of Colorado                                           H.C.R. No. 7  



CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
	WHEREAS, A proposal in the president of the United States' 
2006 budget to replace the community development block grant (CDBG) 
program at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 
(HUD) with a consolidated grant program to be administered by the 
U.S. Department of Commerce has raised serious concerns among the 
members of the Texas Legislature; and
	WHEREAS, Every one of Texas' 181 state legislators represents 
at least one city or county that received CDBG funds in the last 
four years for water and sewer improvements, street and drainage 
improvements, housing assistance, fire protection, disaster 
relief, job creation and retention, homeless shelters, or other 
services for low- and moderate-income persons and families; and
	WHEREAS, Local officials in small and rural Texas cities like 
the City of Eagle Lake, which received a $350,000 CDBG grant in 2002 
for sewer system improvements, are concerned that replacing the 
CDBG program with a program administered by the Department of 
Commerce will fundamentally alter the mission of the program from 
one that focuses on community revitalization to one that focuses on 
business interests; and
	WHEREAS, Similarly, local officials in large Texas cities 
like the City of Fort Worth, which received $86,740 in 2004 for 
providing comprehensive housing counseling services to low- and 
moderate-income families seeking to improve their housing 
conditions, are concerned that a revamped CDBG program will no 
longer offer funding to develop viable urban communities through 
the provision of decent housing and a suitable living environment; 
and
	WHEREAS, Deserving CDBG grant recipients in Texas are also 
alarmed that proposed funding for the new initiative at the 
Department of Commerce is only $3.7 billion; this amount not only 
represents a 35 percent reduction from total FY 2005 appropriations 
for the 18 community and economic development programs targeted for 
consolidation under the initiative, but it also is 22 percent less 
than the FY 2005 funding just for the CDBG program alone; and
	WHEREAS, According to HUD, the impact of eliminating the CDBG 
program on the 63 large cities and nine urban counties in Texas that 
receive benefits directly from HUD would be the loss of more than 
$200 million in annual funding for rehabilitating residential and 
nonresidential structures, constructing public facilities and 
improvements, and providing public services such as adult day care 
and after-school care for children; and
	WHEREAS, The Texas Office of Rural Community Affairs (ORCA) 
reports that the impact of eliminating the CDBG program on the  
1,017 small cities and 245 rural counties in Texas that receive 
funding through the State of Texas would be the loss of $82.3 
million in annual funds for water and sewer service in areas that 
still lack these basic services as well as for services related to 
job creation and disaster relief; and
	WHEREAS, Specifically, if the CDBG program is eliminated, 
Texas would no longer receive grants in the following amounts and 
categories:
	(1)  $50.1 million administered by ORCA for water and sewer 
improvements;    
	(2)  $12.1 million administered by ORCA for water, sewer, 
housing, and related projects in border colonias;
	(3)  $12.1 million administered by the Texas Department of 
Agriculture for job creation and retention in rural areas;
	(4)  $3.4 million administered by ORCA for disaster relief; 
and              
	(5)  $2.6 million administered by the Texas Department of 
Housing and Community Affairs for "self-help" water and sewer 
projects; and
	WHEREAS, There is no state funding to replace CDBG funds that 
have been an invaluable resource in our state since the program was 
established at HUD in 1974; now, therefore, be it
	RESOLVED, That the 79th Legislature of the State of Texas 
hereby respectfully urge the Congress of the United States to 
preserve the community development block grant program and its 
funding at the U.S.  Department of Housing and Community Affairs; 
and, be it further
	RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official 
copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to 
the speaker of the house of representatives and the president of the 
senate of the United States Congress, and to all the members of the 
Texas delegation to the congress with the request that this 
resolution be officially entered in the Congressional Record as a 
memorial to the Congress of the United States of America.