Around Indiana
Analysis of Income Trends in Indiana: This month, the Center for Budget Policy and Priorities released the report, Pulling Apart: A State-by-State Analysis of Income Trends. According to the report, the gaps between the incomes of the richest households and low- and middle-income households are wide and growing in most states. In Indiana, income inequality has grown faster than in all but five other states in recent years. The incomes of the richest fifth of households were 7.4 times bigger than the incomes of the poorest households in the late 2000s. The incomes of the richest five percent of households were 11.9 times bigger than the incomes of the poorest fifth in that same period. "For low- and middle-income families, the 2000s were a lost decade of falling incomes and economic insecurity," said Doug Hall, co-author of the report and Director of the Economic Analysis and Research Network (EARN) at the Economic Policy Institute. "That's not only harmful to these families, but it also threatens our future economic growth." For more details and an infographic showing statistics for the Hoosier state, click here to read our blog post. The Indianapolis Star Covers the Dedication of The Platform Yesterday, IACED celebrated the dedication of our new location with other community development partners in the new build out of the historic City Market's west wing in downtown Indianapolis. The Indianapolis Star reported on the event noting that the "$1.5 million city project transformed the west wing, which a couple of years ago was slated for demolition." Click here to read the Star's full coverage of the event.
Lifetime Community District in spotlight at Aging in Place Training In October, the Indiana Institute on Disability and Community implemented IACED's most recent Aging in Place training, concentrating on Bloomington's new Lifetime Community District (LCD). An LCD is a zoning and public policy innovation created to influence community development that promotes livability for all ages and abilities. During the first part of the training, a group of planners, public officials, neighborhood leaders, health experts, and others spent time brainstorming around what a model LCD would look like positioned in and around the Bloomington B-Line trail, an award-winning community economic development initiative. The last part of the training gathered together other community development professionals to address the policy implications and opportunities LCDs might offer other communities. For more information on this event and to find more resources on aging, click here to read our full blog coverage. Across the Nation Sequestration Impasse Has Severe Implications for Community Development Programs Negotiations over looming federal budget cuts have been ongoing since Congress reconvened after the election. Yesterday, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner met with Republican leaders in Congress to present the Administration's proposal that includes $1.6 trillion in tax increases, $50 billion in stimulus spending, a permanent raising of the debt ceiling, a one-year deferral of sequestration cuts and $400 billion in future entitlement cuts to be decided by Congress in 2013. Today, President Obama held a rally in Pennsylvania, designed to promote his proposal. Immediately after that rally, U.S. House Speaker John Boehner told reporters at a press conference that his caucus rejected the proposal and is not planning to present a counteroffer at this time. He went on to add that at this point, negotiations are at a stalemate. Without a bipartisan resolution before January 2, 2013, sequestration will impose binding caps on spending for defense programs and reduce discretionary spending by $1.5 trillion over ten years. That means housing and community development programs would face an estimated 8.2% cut in funding in FY 2013. These funding cuts of almost $55 billion along with expiring tax breaks will significantly increase the demand for help in communities throughout our country while simultaneously decreasing resources for nonprofits to provide critical services. In response to concerns about this budget trigger, the Campaign for Housing and Community Development Funding has developed a sequestration toolkit designed to help community development advocates to reach out to legislators. For more information about the toolkit and the impact of these cuts on Hoosier communities, click here to read our full blog post. IACED Receives National Honor for Outstanding Tagline The 2012 Nonprofit Tagline Awards have been announced by Getting Attention, a consulting group dedicated to helping nonprofits throughout the country succeed through effective marketing - and IACED has won the "Association" category. The 18 winners of the "taggies" represented a wide array of types of nonprofits and were selected from over 3,300 votes among 63 finalists. According to Getting Attention, IACED's tagline - "You Make a Difference... (We Make it Easier) - "cuts through the clutter as it conveys the value of membership, while giving subtle kudos to [the work] of member and prospect organizations. Click here for the full results. Fair Market Rent and Income Limits Lookup Mobile Application The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) annually estimates Fair Market Rents (FMRs) for 530 metropolitan areas and 2,045 non-metropolitan county FMR areas. HUD also sets income limits annually to determine the eligibility of applicants for HUD's assisted housing programs. HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research (PD&R) developed applications for a user's mobile device which can be used to determine payment amounts and rent thresholds for HUD's housing assistance programs. In addition, the application can be used to discover the income limits established by HUD for households of different sizes in each location to determine eligibility for a variety of programs. This is a map-based application for users to search FMRs and income limits by current location or by metropolitan area, county, zip code and/or address. Google Android users download this application here. IPhone users direct your smart phone web browser to http://m.huduser.org/fmril/. From the Safari toolbar choose "Add to Home Screen." | 
