NHBR
By NHBR Staff
July 29, 2020

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen is concerned inefficiencies at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) are holding up the distribution of $5 billion in supplemental Community Development Block Grants appropriated for communities nationwide under the CARES Act.

Following a conference call earlier this month with New Hampshire housing officials and advocates, Sen. Shaheen sent a letter last Tuesday, July 21, to HUD, requesting it address a number of issues including HUD’s approval process and disbursement of funds to grantees, delayed guidance on the permissible use of the funds, and the need for a waiver to streamline the distribution of CDBG funds to nonprofits on the frontlines of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“This funding, referred to as CDBG-CV, will support the expansion of community health facilities, child care centers, food banks and senior services in vulnerable communities,” wrote Shaheen. “Therefore, I urge HUD to swiftly approve grantee supplemental amendment requests once they have been received and release CDBG-CV funds to grantees as soon as possible. I also request that HUD issue guidance promptly on the permissible uses of CDBG-CV funds so that grantees can put them to use quickly and effectively once they have been released by HUD.”

Under current guidance, nonprofit organizations in non-entitlement communities (entitlement communities include Manchester, Nashua, Portsmouth, Rochester and Dover) are required to work through their local government to apply for CDBG-CV funds, administered in New Hampshire by the Community Development Finance Agency (CDFA). A municipality can also apply for these funds on behalf of a local nonprofit agency.

“Unfortunately, many of New Hampshire’s municipalities have been heavily burdened due to their response to the COVID-19 pandemic and are facing significant administrative challenges,” wrote Shaheen. “Many municipalities simply do not have the capacity at this time to support local nonprofits in applying for CDBG-CV funds. Therefore, I request that HUD issue a temporary waiver to allow nonprofit organizations to apply directly to statewide grantees like the CDFA without needing to go through their local government to access CDBG-CV funds.”

In closing, Senator Shaheen urged HUD Secretary Carson to make addressing these concerns surrounding CDBG-CV funds and similar housing resources a top priority considering the impact of the Covid-19 crisis on vulnerable communities, especially since New Hampshire’s moratorium on evictions was lifted and expanded federal unemployment insurance is set to expire on July 31, 2020.

In a related move, earlier this month, Shaheen sent a letter to HUD, calling on the agency to expedite the release of $4 billion of CARES Act funding for emergency housing. In addition, Shaheen is a cosponsor of the Emergency Rental Assistance and Rental Market Stabilization Act of 2020, legislation that would establish an Emergency Rental Assistance program to provide $100 billion in emergency rental assistance to help families and individuals pay their rent and remain housed during and after the Covid-19 crisis.