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Around Indiana
Indianapolis Housing Agency breaks ground on $30 million Lugar Tower revitalization
Indianapolis Housing Agency (IHA) officials were joined by Congressman Andre Carson, Indianapolis Deputy Mayor Olgen Williams and local community development leaders on June 29 to break ground on a new mixed-income development project to be added to Lugar Tower. This investment is part of the Agency's larger campaign to revitalize distressed communities throughout the city. To read more about this and other IHA initiatives, click here.
New Research on Indiana Nonprofits Losing Their Tax Exempt Status
The Indiana Nonprofit Sector Project released a new report studying Indiana nonprofits that were at risk of losing their federal tax-exempt status because of a change in federal reporting requirements. The research finds 6,152 Indiana nonprofits that have had their tax-exempt status revoked by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) because they failed to comply with new reporting requirement mandated by the Pension Protection Act of 2006. To read the report's key findings, click here to read our blog post.
Indiana General Assembly Interim Study Committees
The Indiana Legislative Council recently adopted a resolution assigning topics that will be reviewed during interim study committees for 2011. Most committees will only meet 4 times prior to the deadline of Oct. 31, 2011, for submission of study committee reports.
Committees which may be of particular interest to IACED members are:
- CRIMINAL LAW AND SENTENCING POLICY STUDY COMMITTEE
- INTERIM STUDY COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
- INTERIM STUDY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION ISSUES
- CHARITY GAMING STUDY COMMITTEE
- HEALTH FINANCE COMMISSION
- SELECT JOINT COMMISSION ON MEDICAID OVERSIGHT
- COMMISSION ON STATE TAX AND FINANCING POLICY
- JOINT STUDY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION AND
INFRASTRUCTURE ASSESSMENT AND SOLUTIONS
Across the Nation
Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act of 2008 (SAFE Act) Final Rule
On June 30, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development published a final rule that will go into effect on August 29, 2011, setting the minimum standards that states must meet to comply with the Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act of 2008 (SAFE Act) in licensing mortgage loan originators. To read the details of that rule, click here.
New Report Highlights the Main Street Implications of the Debt Ceiling Debate
A May 2011 report by Third Way, a Washington, DC-based think tank, examines the Main Street implications of the Congressional debate over whether or not to raise the debt ceiling. While the federal government technically reached the default deadline in May, the Treasury Department has employed accounting maneuvers in paying government pensions as a stop gap measure to buy Congress time to come together on a debt ceiling vote. August 2 is the hard deadline for taking action before the United States defaults on our debt.
The report maintains that during this fragile economic recovery, market changes resulting from a U.S. default would result in the loss of 642,500 jobs. The authors also maintain that the typical 401k investor would lose 6.3% percent from their portfolio, based on the estimates from the Employee Benefit Research Institute. Since the rate Americans pay for their mortgage is generally tied to the interest rate on treasury bonds, the report estimates that $19,100 would be added to the lifetime cost of a 30 year fixed rate mortgage on a median home loan of $172,000. Lastly, the authors contend that market changes to lending and liquidity following a default would drastically impair the average consumer's ability to secure an auto, school or personal line of credit. To read more, click here.
Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress Released
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released the Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress (AHAR) on June 14, 2011. According to the findings, levels of homelessness in the United States have stayed flat from 2009 to 2010. Overall homelessness increased by one percent, rising to 649,917 according to the annual point-in-time counts. According to the report, 6,452 persons experienced homelessness in Indiana during 2010. The percent change from 2009 to 2010 was a decline of 7.62 percent in the overall homeless population. The overall homeless population declined from 2007-2010 by 12.31 percent.
The steady figures despite ongoing challenges to economic recovery can be attributed to an infusion of $1.5 billion in stimulus funds under the Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program (HPRP). Advocates have highlighted the fact that HPRP expires in 2012 and that overall, the number of sheltered homeless persons in families increased by 20 percent from 2007 to 2010. Further, there has been a marked increase in rural and suburban areas: the 2010 figures are up 57 percent from 2007. To read more, click here.
White House Rural Council
In June, President Obama established the White House Rural Council. The mission of the Council is to work across executive departments, agencies, and offices to coordinate development of policy recommendations to promote economic prosperity and quality of life in rural America, and will coordinate the Administration's engagement with rural communities. According to the White House, the Rural Council will focus on job creation and economic development by increasing the flow of capital to rural areas, promoting innovation, expanding digital and physical networks, and celebrating opportunity through America's natural resources.
To read the Council's discussion regarding key factors for growth, click here.
HUD Announces $3.6 Million Available for CHOICE Neighborhoods Planning
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced today that $3.6 million in Choice Neighborhoods Planning Grants will be awarded in fiscal year 2011 to assist in the transformation, rehabilitation and preservation of public housing and privately owned HUD-assisted housing.
As part of HUD's overall plan to revitalize areas of concentrated poverty, the Choice Neighborhoods Planning Grants are intended to help transform distressed public and assisted housing into sustainable, mixed-income housing that connects to key services, such as education and transportation, and supports positive outcomes for the neighborhood's families. Eligible applicants are public housing authorities, local governments, nonprofit organizations, and for-profit developers that apply jointly with a public entity. Applicants must demonstrate their plan to revitalize the neighborhood through public-private partnerships that seek to develop high-quality public schools and early learning programs, public transportation, and improved access to jobs and well-functioning services.
Applicants have until August 8, 2011 to apply for the Choice Neighborhoods Planning Grants. HUD anticipates awarding approximately 12 grants with a maximum award of $300,000 each. To read more, click here.
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