Schumer, Gillibrand Secures Federal Funding For White Plains

WHITE PLAINS, NY — U.S. Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer and U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand announced Tuesday $149,651,762 in federal funding for communities across New York, including $779,032 for White Plains. The funding was provided by the Office of Community Planning and Development (CPD), which is part of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Specifically, the funding comprises $72,988,441 in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and $76,663,321 in HOME Investment Partnership Program (HOME) funding.

“The Community Development Block Grant and HOME Investment Partnerships Programs are vital streams of investment that support local economic development, community revitalization and affordable housing. Without this non-replaceable funding, many local job-creating development projects that turned around upstate communities and boosted jobs might not be here today,” said Senator Schumer. “This $149 million in funding is a big win for Upstate New York and will help cities, towns, villages, and hamlets throughout the state create good paying jobs, deliver essential services to families and seniors and support affordable housing. I will continue to fight with every fiber in my body to protect this critical investment for our communities and make sure New York gets the federal investment we need and deserve.”

The CDBG and HOME funding was allocated through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Communities in New York State will use the funding to address a wide range of needs and enable local governments to support affordable housing initiatives, anti-poverty programs, and expand economic development. The CDBG program provides municipalities in New York with critical funding for transformative and unique development projects, and needed funding to leverage outside investment in job creation projects. The funds have played, and will continue to play, a critical role in facilitating local economic development in Upstate NY and putting local governments in a position to succeed. According to HUD, the CDBG program provides communities with resources to address a wide range of unique community development needs. The CDBG program funds affordable housing projects, provides services to the most vulnerable members of our communities, and creates jobs through the expansion and retention of businesses. The CDBG program, received $3 billion from HUD, and the HOME program, received $950 million from HUD for FY17.

Schumer and Gillibrand said both programs are critical to New York’s communities because they are capable of funding the kinds of business development, housing, and revitalization projects that are essential to the success of these local economies. HOME funding is the primary source of funding for state and local governments to buy and rehabilitate affordable housing. The program supports a variety of first-time homebuyer incentive programs, affordable housing initiatives for low- to moderate- income families, and other various neighborhood development efforts.

In September, Schumer and Gillibrand announced more than $13 million in funding for New York State. Additionally, earlier this year Schumer and Gillibrand fought to ensure that the bipartisan federal funding bill included funding for the CDBG and HOME programs. In June, Schumer and Gillibrand announced $376,888,300 in federal funding for communities across NY. Today’s announcement is a result of the FY17 appropriations package, which allocated $3 billion to the CDBG program awarded $950 million to the HOME program marking major wins for Upstate NY. Schumer and Gillibrand pledged to protect CDBG and HOME funding because both programs provide an irreplaceable source of investment for economic development and affordable housing in Upstate NY.

CDBG funds are distributed to states, counties, villages, towns, and cities across the U.S. to fund development projects. According to HUD, the CDBG program funds affordable housing projects, provides services to the most vulnerable in communities and creates jobs through the expansion and retention of businesses. The CDBG program provides annual grants on a formula basis to over 1,200 general units of local and state governments.

Image via Shutterstock.