[House Report 110-86]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
110th Congress Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
1st Session 110-86
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AMENDING THE HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT ACT OF 1974 TO TREAT
CERTAIN COMMUNITIES AS METROPOLITAN CITIES FOR PURPOSES OF THE
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT PROGRAM
_______
April 16, 2007.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the
State of the Union and ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Frank of Massachusetts, from the Committee on Financial Services,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 1515]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Financial Services, to whom was referred
the bill (H.R. 1515) to amend the Housing and Community
Development Act of 1974 to treat certain communities as
metropolitan cities for purposes of the community development
block grant program, having considered the same, report
favorably thereon without amendment and recommend that the bill
do pass.
CONTENTS
Page
Purpose and Summary.............................................. 1
Background and Need for Legislation.............................. 2
Hearings......................................................... 2
Committee Consideration.......................................... 2
Committee Votes.................................................. 2
Committee Oversight Findings..................................... 3
Performance Goals and Objectives................................. 3
New Budget Authority, Entitlement Authority, and Tax Expenditures 3
Committee Cost Estimate.......................................... 3
Congressional Budget Office Estimate............................. 3
Federal Mandates Statement....................................... 4
Advisory Committee Statement..................................... 5
Constitutional Authority Statement............................... 5
Applicability to Legislative Branch.............................. 5
Earmark Identification........................................... 5
Section-by-Section Analysis of the Legislation................... 5
Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported............ 5
Purpose and Summary
H.R. 1515 amends the Housing and Community Development Act
of 1974 to designate Alton and Granite City Illinois, as
metropolitan cities, thus restoring their eligibility as
entitlement communities for Community Development Block Grant
funds.
Background and Need for Legislation
The Community Development Block Grant program was
established under Title I of the Housing and Community
Development Act of 1974. Primarily designed to help families
with low- or moderate-incomes, the program distributes grant
funds through a formula which allocates 70 percent directly to
metropolitan city and urban county entitlement communities and
30 percent to States to be used in non-entitlement areas.
Metropolitan cities are defined as having a population of at
least 50,000 or being a city which is the ``principal city'' or
such an area as defined by the Office of Management and Budget.
Urban counties are defined as a county within a metropolitan
area authorized by the State to undertake community development
activities that has a population of at least 200,000.
Both Alton and Granite City were previously eligible under
the Office of Management and Budget's ``central city''
definition. However, in 2003 the Office of Management and
Budget adopted new standards for the definition of Metropolitan
Statistical Areas to reflect the 2000 Census data. As result,
the Office of Management and Budget created the designation of
``principal cities'' as communities with a minimum population
of 50,000. Neither Alton nor Granite City meet this new
population threshold.
Other communities which otherwise would have lost their
entitlement status based on the Office of Management and
Budget's new population threshold were grandfathered-in based
on their classification as metropolitan cities for the previous
two years. However, for the years preceding the Office of
Management and Budget designation change, Alton and Granite
City deferred their entitlement status to surrounding Madison
County, the population of which had fallen below the threshold
of 200,000. This deferment inadvertently caused both
communities to lose their entitlement status which otherwise
would have been preserved by the statute.
Hearings
No hearings were held on H.R. 1515 in the 110th Congress.
Committee Consideration
The Committee on Financial Services met in open session on
March 28, 2007, and ordered H.R. 1515 reported by a voice vote.
Committee Votes
Clause 3(b) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of
Representatives requires the Committee to list the record votes
on the motion to report legislation and amendments thereto. No
record votes were taken with in conjunction with the
consideration of this legislation. A motion by Mr. Frank to
report the bill to the House with a favorable recommendation
was agreed to by a voice vote.
Committee Oversight Findings
Pursuant to clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of the
House of Representatives, the Committee has held hearings and
made findings that are reflected in this report.
Performance Goals and Objectives
Pursuant to clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII of the Rules of the
House of Representatives, the Committee establishes the
following performance related goals and objectives for this
legislation:
H.R. 1515 designates Alton and Granite City Illinois, as
metropolitan cities, thus restoring their eligibility as
entitlement communities for Community Development Block Grant
funds.
New Budget Authority, Entitlement Authority, and Tax Expenditures
In compliance with clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules
of the House of Representatives, the Committee adopts as its
own the estimate of new budget authority, entitlement
authority, tax expenditures or revenues contained in the cost
estimate prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget
Office pursuant to section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act.
Committee Cost Estimate
The Committee adopts as its own the cost estimate prepared
by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office pursuant to
section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974.
Congressional Budget Office Estimate
Pursuant to clause 3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the
House of Representatives, the following is the cost estimate
provided by the Congressional Budget Office pursuant to section
402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974:
April 12, 2007.
Hon. Barney Frank,
Chairman, Committee on Financial Services,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 1515, a bill to
amend the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 to
treat certain communities as metropolitan cities for purposes
of the community development block grant program.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Daniel
Hoople.
Sincerely,
Peter R. Orszag.
Enclosure.
H.R. 1515--A bill to amend the Housing and Community Development Act of
1974 to treat certain communities as metropolitan cities for
purposes of the community development block grant program
H.R. 1515 would define the cities of Alton and Granite City
in Illinois as metropolitan cities for the purpose of
allocating funds within the Community Development Block Grant
(CDBG) program. The CDBG program provides grants to over 1,100
states and local governments for various community development
projects, including local housing, neighborhood revitalization,
public services, and infrastructure needs. CBO estimates that
enacting H.R. 1515 would have no significant impact on the
federal budget.
H.R. 1515 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act. The
bill would likely benefit the cities of Alton and Granite City,
Illinois, by classifying them as metropolitan cities under the
CDBG program. The change in classification would result in a
reallocation of funds that all metropolitan cities receive from
the program. The costs of any requirements tied to these grants
would be incurred voluntarily.
Under current law, about 70 percent of the funds
appropriated to the CDBG program (about $2.6 billion in 2007)
are allocated to central cities of Metropolitan Statistical
Areas, cities with populations of at least 50,000, and urban
counties with a population of at least 200,000 (excluding the
population of metropolitan cities located within the county).
In the CDBG program, such areas are known as entitlement
communities and receive a portion of appropriated funds based
on population, housing stock, and the extent of poverty.
The remaining 30 percent of funds appropriated to the CDBG
program are allocated to local governments that do not qualify
as entitlement communities based on state-determined criteria.
In 2007, the states will receive about $1.1 billion for this
purpose, $33 million of which is allocated to Illinois.
H.R. 1515 would reclassify Alton and Granite City as
entitlement communities within the CDBG program. CBO expects
this reclassification could cause the funding those cities
receive to change by up to several hundred thousand dollars in
any year, depending how Illinois decides to allocate its CDBG
funding. As such, CBO estimates that implementing this bill
would have no significant cost to the federal government over
the next five years. Any additional costs to the program
resulting from this legislation would be subject to the
availability of appropriations.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Daniel Hoople.
This estimate was approved by Peter H. Fontaine, Deputy
Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.
Federal Mandates Statement
The Committee adopts as its own the estimate of Federal
mandates prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget
Office pursuant to section 423 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform
Act.
Advisory Committee Statement
No advisory committees within the meaning of section 5(b)
of the Federal Advisory Committee Act were created by this
legislation.
Constitutional Authority Statement
Pursuant to clause 3(d)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of the
House of Representatives, the Committee finds that the
Constitutional Authority of Congress to enact this legislation
is provided by Article 1, section 8, clause 1 (relating to the
general welfare of the United States) and clause 3 (relating to
the power to regulate interstate commerce).
Applicability to Legislative Branch
The Committee finds that the legislation does not relate to
the terms and conditions of employment or access to public
services or accommodations within the meaning of section
102(b)(3) of the Congressional Accountability Act.
Earmark Identification
H.R. 1515 does not contain any congressional earmarks,
limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined in
clause 9 of rule XXI.
Section-by-Section Analysis of the Legislation
Section 1. Metropolitan Cities
Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 to
designate Alton and Granite City, Illinois as metropolitan
cities for the purposes of the Community Development Block
Grant program.
Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported
In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of
the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (new matter is
printed in italic and existing law in which no change is
proposed is shown in roman):
SECTION 102 OF THE HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT ACT OF 1974
definitions
Sec. 102. (a) As used in this title--
(1) * * *
* * * * * * *
(4) The term ``metropolitan city'' means (A) a city
within a metropolitan area which is the central city of
such area, as defined and used by the Office of
Management and Budget, or (B) any other city, within a
metropolitan area, which has a population of fifty
thousand or more. Any city that was classified as a
metropolitan city for at least 2 years pursuant to the
first sentence of this paragraph shall remain
classified as a metropolitan city. Any unit of general
local government that becomes eligible to be classified
as a metropolitan city, and was not classified as a
metropolitan city in the immediately preceding fiscal
year, may, upon submission of written notification to
the Secretary, defer its classification as a
metropolitan city for all purposes under this title, if
it elects to have its population included in an urban
county under subsection (d). Notwithstanding the second
sentence of this paragraph, a city may elect not to
retain its classification as a metropolitan city. Any
city classified as a metropolitan city pursuant to this
paragraph, and that no longer qualifies as a
metropolitan city in a fiscal year beginning after
fiscal year 1989, shall retain its classification as a
metropolitan city for such fiscal year and the
succeeding fiscal year, except that in such succeeding
fiscal year (A) the amount of the grant to such city
shall be 50 percent of the amount calculated under
section 106(b); and (B) the remaining 50 percent shall
be added to the amount allocated under section 106(d)
to the State in which the city is located and the city
shall be eligible in such succeeding fiscal year to
receive a distribution from the State allocation under
section 106(d) as increased by this sentence. Any unit
of general local government that was classified as a
metropolitan city in any fiscal year, may, upon
submission of written notification to the Secretary,
relinquish such classification for all purposes under
this title if it elects to have its population included
with the population of a county for purposes of
qualifying for assistance (for such following fiscal
year) under section 106 as an urban county under
paragraph (6)(D). Any metropolitan city that elects to
relinquish its classification under the preceding
sentence and whose port authority shipped at least
35,000,000 tons of cargo in 1988, of which iron ore
made up at least half, shall not receive, in any fiscal
year, a total amount of assistance under section 106
from the urban county recipient that is less than the
city would have received if it had not relinquished the
classification under the preceding sentence.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this paragraph,
with respect to any fiscal year beginning after the
date of the enactment of this sentence, the cities of
Alton and Granite City, Illinois, shall be considered
metropolitan cities for purposes of this title.
* * * * * * *