2008-01-10 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Federal Funding for Local Activities Although the House and Senate supported individual spending bills that reflected modest increases or level funding for programs important to cities and towns, Congress eventually acquiesced to the President's budgetary cap and passed an omnibus spending bill that reflected the President's overall spending goal of $933 million. Although Congress was forced to find $22 billion in cuts to meet the President's request, funding for many programs important to cities and towns was not cut back to the President's proposed spending. Housing and Community Development In the area of housing and community development, the omnibus bill included $3.6 billion for the Community Development Block Grant program, which is $100 million less than the program received in last year's budget but $600 million more than the President requested. In earlier versions of spending bills passed during the session, the House and the Senate approved $4 billion for this important program. In a continued show of support for the HOPE VI program, which is vital to local government efforts to preserve the stock of quality public housing units, Congress ignored the President's request to eliminate this program and instead funded it with $100 million, $1 million above the FY 2007 level. Transportation and Infrastructure Recognizing the need to replace aging infrastructure, the omnibus bill includes funding at the authorized level for the highway program at $40.2 billion, which is $631 million more than the President proposed. The bill also includes $3.5 billion for airport improvement grants, and an additional $1 billion for bridge repairs and inspections. Federal transit programs would receive $9.5 billion, more than last year's amount but less than the original conference report adopted by the House and Senate. Amtrak would receive $1.3 billion, the same as last year but substantially above the President's request of $800 million. Public Safety and Crime Prevention In response to reports that showed an increase in violent crime across the country, the House and the Senate had earlier rejected the President's proposed 94 percent decrease for the popular Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program. The omnibus bill includes $587 million for the COPS program, which is $35 million more than the FY 2007 level. However, this spending level falls short of the $725 million for the COPS program that the House approved earlier in the session.