Member Update
CEDAM News & Views: June 15,
2007 | |
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| State Policy &
Politics... |
New Leadership at
CEDAM
 CEDAM
welcomes Angie Gaabo as our new Executive
Director. Angie was previously Executive Director of Community Legal
Resources, where she provided CEDAM's CDC members
with legal services and policy research and was awarded
CEDAM's 2005 "CED Advocate of the Year Award" for service to
the industry. Angie has been Interim Director with
CEDAM since April and joins Associate Director
Brian McGrain and Program
Manager Emily Doerr (recently promoted
from her position as Intern). Angie and the CEDAM Board
of Directors extend a special thank you to Brian McGrain for
managing this transition to new
leadership!
Agreement Reached on New Business
Tax
Governor Jennifer M. Granholm, Senate Majority
Leader Mike Bishop, and House Speaker Andy Dillon announced on
Wednesday that they have reached an historic agreement on a
new Michigan Business Tax (MBT) to replace the Single Business
Tax (SBT) that will expire at the end of the year. The
new Michigan Business Tax will make Michigan's business
climate competitive, serving as a tool to attract jobs and job
providers. The complete press release
is available, including a link to a fact sheet on the new
MBT.
Legislative Tracking Service Available
On-line
 Visit CEDAM's Public Policy Portal for current legislative
information affecting our industry. |
| National Outlook... |
|
Other States Looking at Trust Fund
Options
Advocates want to modify New
York State's Housing Trust Fund by creating a dedicated
funding source and expanding the eligible uses of trust fund
monies, reported Gannett News
Service. The trust fund, which receives an annual
allocation through the state budget, supports the creation of
affordable homes for low-income residents in poor
neighborhoods. Advocates say the state should consider
dedicating a portion of real estate transfer tax revenues or
mortgage recording tax surcharge funds to the trust
fund.
Meanwhile, Texas has doubled its Affordable Housing Trust
Fund amount from $2.5 million to $5 million. The Texas Low
Income Housing Information Service and its partners take the
news as an encouraging step towards securing $30-$50 million
in future legislative sessions.
New York and Texas are
two of 38 states across the nation that have a dedicated
state Fund for the creation of affordable work-force housing.
Michigan is one of the states that does not have general state
dollars set aside to foster housing and community development
activities. CEDAM is working to address this by actively
supporting Michigan's Housing and
Community Development Fund.
Housing Appropriations
Increases May be
Limited |
With Congress having passed a budget
resolution on May 17 for domestic discretionary programs,
appropriators are turning their attention to the 12 individual
spending bills, including the one for Transportation, HUD, and
related agencies. The resolution amount of $954.1 billion
exceeds the President's request by $21 billion, which could
provide needed program increases, such as the 100,000
additional new vouchers that would be authorized by the
Section 8 Voucher Reform Act, which the House Committee on
Financial Services passed on May 24. But OMB Director Rob
Portman has signaled that bills going above the
Administration's budget could be vetoed by the
President.
GSE Regulatory Reform Bill
Facing Mounting Opposition
Some Senate Republicans are
troubled by the national Affordable Housing Trust Fund
provision in the House-passed HR 1427, and the White House is
stepping up its opposition as well. The Senate has yet to
introduce its own GSE bill and is expected to delay debate
until it can reach a compromise behind closed doors, likely
delaying sending it to the President at least until late this
year. |
| Members & Partners
Spotlight... |
| "Building
Blocks" Newsletter Highlights Many New Developments at
MSHDA |
|
|
| Resources, Trainings, &
Events... |
| Charter One Housing Heroes Grant Deadline
Extended |
|
The Charter One Housing Heroes competitive grant award
program has extended its application deadline until June 30,
2007. This award program is a unique program designed to
recognize "Housing Heroes" in the state of Michigan who have
developed innovative solutions to the increased challenge of
affordable housing creation. One $50,000 grant winner is
selected per year. Nonprofit developers are eligible if they
have completed an affordable housing project between June 2006
and May 2007. For complete information, please visit Charter One and click
on the tab linking to "Charter One in the
Community."
CEDAM sites for Industry Trainings,
Careers
Don't forget to visit MITTAC - the Michigan Training and Technical
Assistance Collaborative - for current training
opportunities.
CEDAM's Career Corner is also frequently updated
with job openings in the Community Economic Development
industry. New positions are added often!
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Compliments of CEDAM
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