Member Update
CEDAM News & Views: January 14,
2008 | |
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| State Politics &
Policy... |
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QAP Update
On Friday, January 4, 2008, MSHDA's Executive
Director announced that MSHDA will conduct a LIHTC winter 2008
funding round using 25% of 2008 LIHTC. This funding
round will be conducted using the 2005/06 Qualified Allocation
Plan. Applications will be due in the Lansing office
of MSHDA no later than 5 p.m. on January 18, 2008.
All requirements of the 2005/06 Qualified Allocation
Plan apply. Staff will conduct a lottery shortly after
applications are received followed by a Threshold review in
order to expedite the selection process. Additionally, while
time sensitive documents will still need to meet all the
2005/06 Qualified Allocation Plan requirements, additional
time to meet these requirements will be granted upon written
request from applicants. Please make sure to
include your written request in your application for
LIHTC.
Allocation of 25% of 2008 LIHTC by
holdback and statutory set-aside was previously posted on the
2008 Funding Round Information page of the MSHDA website.
Please refer to that posting for information on LIHTC
available for this round. The official Notice of Funding
Round, as well as the announcement of the date, time and location of the
drawing for eligible applications submitted in the upcoming
funding round has been posted to MSHDA's web site, at the
bottom of the 2008 Funding Round
Information page.
Looking for more information on Michigan
entrepreneurs?
Check out the website Buy Michigan Now, a
website that provides details on buying Michigan products and
a way to send the information to a friend via an online pledge form.
Please contact Lisa Diggs, founder of
the The Catalyst Company LLC, with questions.
New Economy Initiative
advances effort to strengthen Southeast
Michigan
Check out the article on this eight-year, $100 million initiative - a joint
effort of ten national, regional, and local
foundations. |
| National Politics &
Policy... |
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National Budget - HUD Appropriation
Highlights
 On December 19th, the House and
Senate passed a $555 billion omnibus spending bill and it was
signed by the President on December 26th. The bill reduces
spending from each House and Senate passed appropriations
bills to the level set in the President's budget. To reach
these levels, many of the President's priorities were cut to
fund some of the Democrats' spending priorities, which
includes the funding of housing programs. Overall,
total funding for HUD programs in 2008 is approximately $273
million lower than the 2007 level; however, the total
funding is higher than the President's proposed budget by
about $2.1 billion. Although most of the funds are coming from
the Section 8 voucher program, this is not expected to have an
adverse impact next year. Other funding reductions
were made to HOME, CDBG, and HOPE VI programs. For
additional information please read analyses from the
Center on Budget and Policy
Priorities and
the National Low Income Housing
Coalition.
National Housing Trust Fund
Introduced in Senate
On
December 19th, the National Affordable Housing Trust Fund Act
of 2007 (S. 2523) was introduced in the Senate. The lead
sponsors of this bipartisan effort are Senators John Kerry
(D-MA) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME). Remember the National
Affordable Housing Trust Fund Act of 2007 (H.R. 2895), which
is nearly identical to the Senate bill, passed the House
on October 10th with strong bipartisan support. Please
read the National Low Income Housing Coalition press release and bill summary.
Please
contact Senators Levin and Stabenow to ask for
their support!
IDAs for Youth in Foster
Care
 The Focusing Investments and
Resources for a Safe Transition (FIRST) Act of 2007 (S. 2341)
was introduced by Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY), Mary
Landrieu (D-LA), and Jay Rockefeller IV (D-WY). The
legislation will provide foster youth who are aging out of the
foster care system with financial support for critical
independent living needs. It will provide foster youth with
savings accounts, which will contain a federal deposit on
behalf of the foster youth matched by public and private
community partners. The bill is modeled after existing smaller
scaled programs from around the country. Ask Senators Levin and Stabenow to
support this important asset building
policy.
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| Members & Partners
Spotlight... |
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Check out the editorial on abandoned
buildings from the Detroit Free Press and the article on the sale of
Detroit city parks from the New York Times
(featuring CEDAM Board Member Eric Dueweke of the Taubman
College of Architecture at the University of Michigan!)
 Grand Rapids will be hosting the
2008 Urban Land Institute Real Estate Forum on October 15 and
16.
Governing Magazine published an article on the
tremendous impact that the Genesee County Land Bank is having
on Flint and the impact that land banks in
general can have on the State of Michigan.
 MUST READ: The
Michigan Municipal League has two fantastic publications that
are full of excellent information for Michigan's CDCs
- These publications provide detailed case studies,
thorough and useful data, and discuss creative ideas for
Michigan to emerge from the current foreclosure
crisis. |
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Resources, Trainings, and
Events... |
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Funding
Opportunities:
Request for Proposals for small
entrepreneur capacity building - all interested
parties should respond by TODAY with an
intention to bid and submit a full proposal by Monday, January
28. Please email
CSW with
questions.
 The Home Depot
Foundation has grants available in its "Affordable
Housing Built Responsibly" program.
Preference is given to proposals producing, preserving, or
financing housing for low- to moderate-income families with
an emphasis on green building practices and smart
growth designs. There are two cycles in 2008. Letters
of Intent are due on March 1 and July 1 and proposal deadlines
are on May 15 and September
15.
The National Housing Trust
Community Development Fund will make short-term
Predevelopment and Interim development loans up to $110,000 in
its "Green Affordable Housing Preservation Lending
Initiative" - applications are reviewed weekly and no
deadlines have been established. Contact Keiva Dennis at (202)
333-8931 with questions.
And last but not least, $19 Million in
Matching Grants
Available to Promote Asset-Building!
Detroit - Request for Proposals - Vacant
Properties and Funding Available
The City
of Detroit, Planning and Development Department (P&DD), in
collaboration with Detroit LISC is piloting a program to
for qualified organizations to acquire vacant
Detroit properties, rehabilitate them up to housing quality
standards, and develop affordable "for-sale"
housing.
Also, Detroit's P&DD is
accepting applications for loans
under its HUD-funded Multi-Family
Investor, Homebuyers Program, and CHDO Programs.
Mark Your
Calendars!
-
 2008 Indiana Building Green
Symposium Jan 31- Feb 1
in Indianapolis, Indiana
- This 2nd annual
green building conference promotes sustainable design
efforts in the Great Lakes region.
- Please contact Mac Williams of the USGBC
(Indiana Chapter) at (317) 774-8732 with
questions.
- more than
25 workshops
- three
plenary discussions
- NLIHC s
26th Annual Housing Leadership Awards (Feb.
26)
Other
Resources
For information on other
upcoming training opportunities, don't forget to visit
MITTAC
- the Michigan Training and Technical Assistance
Collaborative
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CEDAM's
Career
Corner is also
frequently updated with job openings in the Community Economic
Development industry. New positions are added
often! |
Compliments of CEDAM
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TONIGHT: Consumers Energy is hosting a 
