The Washington, DC-based Coalition for Nonprofit Housing and Economic Development (CNHED), an NLIHC State Coalition Partner, is celebrating historic budget votes by the Council of the District of Columbia.On May 7, the council approved $63 million for the Housing Production Fund, DC’s housing trust fund, in the city’s FY13 supplemental budget. This amount marks the largest one-time investment in the trust fund in its ten year history. The efforts of CNHED and its partners also were apparent on May 22, when the council approved an FY14 budget that has funding levels that CNHED requested for housing, homelessness prevention, and economic development programs. CNHED’s Housing For All Campaign, with its 2,500 supporters, mobilized strong support for the housing budget requests. These substantial affordable housing funding levels were made possible largely by Mayor Vincent Gray’s commitment of $100 million to affordable housing, which he first outlined in his February 2013 State of the District Address (see Memo, 2/15/2013). Mayor Gray’s Comprehensive Housing Strategy Task Force, on which CNHED Executive Director Bob Pohlman serves, later released its plan to help guide the mayor’s effort. A key goal of the task force is to create or preserve 10,000 affordable housing units by 2020. One of the report’s principal recommendations is to increase the city’s financial commitment to the trust fund. Funded by a portion of taxes levied on real estate transactions, the trust fund was nearly depleted during the Great Recession. Its remaining funds were diverted to support the Local Rent Supplement Program (LRSP), another vital program that provides housing vouchers for the lowest income District residents. Advocates applauded Mayor Gray for following through on his commitment in the proposed FY14 budget, which included $20 million to permanently restore the trust fund and provide a dedicated revenue source for LRSP that the trust fund could access. An additional $3 million were proposed through the LRSP for operating subsidies to develop housing for the lowest income residents with severe barriers to stable housing. To compensate for years of low funding, the Mayor Gray proposed a one-time $67 million boost for the trust fund in the FY13 supplemental budget, later reduced to $63 million by the council, with a commitment to restore the remaining funds at a later date. The Home Purchase Assistance Program, which supports affordable homeownership, received $1 million. During a series of town hall meetings, rallies, and testimony, CNHED and its partners urged the District Council to accept Mayor Gray’s proposal, and to go a step further by providing funding levels that adequately address the immediate need of assistance for people experiencing homelessness, especially chronic homelessness. The council voted unanimously to support Mayor Gray’s FY14 housing budget, and made amendments in support of additional funds requested by CNHED. In addition to the mayor’s request, it added $2.2 million to the Permanent Supportive Housing Program for chronically homeless households and $1.75 million to the LRSP to eliminate housing cost burdens for 130 extremely low income households. The council further approved $2 million for the Small Business Technical Assistance Program, one of CNHED’s economic development policy priorities. Additional housing and homeless funds, some added by the council at the mayor’s recommendation, were approved in budgets for Rapid Rehousing, Emergency Rental Assistance, housing for homeless youth, and the creation of an affordable housing database.“We are gratified that the Mayor and Council stepped up to support greatly increased funding for a continuum of housing affordable to all DC residents,” said Mr. Pohlman. “This is a tremendous first installment toward the 10,000 affordable homes. Lots of credit goes to the residents and members who helped make the Housing For All Campaign such an effective force in advocating for the budget.” For more information, contact: Bob Pohlman, CNHED, [email protected]