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Federal updates

  • Lawmakers in Congress are negotiating a short-term spending bill to continue funding the government after the fiscal year deadline on Sept 30. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said Thursday that the House could begin consideration of a short term spending bill this week, but there is still a lot to figure out before then. In addition to continuing funding levels, Congress is negotiating whether to include aid for Ukraine, FDA user fees, and changes to environmental permitting measures.

State updates

  • The Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations, Subcommittee on Hurricane Response and Recovery held a hearing last week on the lack of progress ReBuild NC has made in the years following Hurricanes Matthew and Florence. Since the program started, only 25% of the more than 4,000 applicants have had their home repairs completed. ReBuild NC admits the program has not made as much progress as it should have due to supply chain issues during the pandemic as well as a lack of contractors. Some families have been living in motels for years waiting for their homes to be repaired: ‘Just terrible’: Couple left behind by state recovery program | Spectrum News 1
  • The Charlotte City Council voted to participate in a new project to preserve and renovate a naturally occurring affordable housing community. The City awarded $8 million in American Rescue Plan money to buy and renovate the Peppertree Apartments on Central Avenue. The developer is aiming to significantly reduce rents for income-eligible tenants with plans for units at 30%, 60% and 80% AMI ranges: Charlotte City Council agrees to help buy and renovate apartments for affordable housing | WFAE 90.7
  • New Hanover County announced plans to continue its Workforce Housing Gap Rental Assistance Pilot Program for a second year. The goal is to continue to help households with low incomes meet rental housing needs. Under the updated guidelines, households earning between 60 to 80 percent of the Area Median Income are eligible for the program and qualified households will be directly provided a $450 reimbursement subsidy per month to compensate for rental costs. Applications and more details can accessed at NHCgov.com: Gap Rental Assistance program to continue under updated guidelines | New Hanover County
  • The City of Greenville held a forum to share information and resources on local affordable housing opportunities. Representatives from the city, including council members, along with Legal Aid of North Carolina and the Greenville Housing Authority discussed the shortage of affordable housing, along with tenant rights advocates: Affordable housing shortage stirs forum discussion | Daily Reflector
  • The Town of Chapel Hill is considering an expedited review process for affordable housing developments, making it easier for developers to build. The town piloted multiple solutions over the last year, and now councilors are considering the streamlined process. The town is looking at giving affordable housing proposals priority to be considered first during staff review and consolidating meetings of advisory boards, which can take months: Will affordable housing soon be more accessible in the Triangle? | WRAL
  • Raleigh and Wake County have decided to pull funding from the Raleigh Wake Partnership to End Homelessness, who leads the local work to end homelessness. The letter notes concerns about the Partnership’s ability to meet expectations. The Partnership was surprised by the move, and believes they provide valuable services, input, guidance and leadership: Homelessness nonprofit ‘surprised’ after Raleigh and Wake County pull funding | News & Observer
  • Dogwood Health Trust is contributing a $1.6 million grant to affordable housing in Asheville. The money is meant to amplify previous funding Asheville provided to other area nonprofits earlier this year, including American Rescue Plan funds that were awarded to Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity and Asheville Buncombe Community Christian Ministries. However, the original awards fell short of the asks the nonprofits had made of the city. The Dogwood grant will fill in the gaps and leverage the ARPA funds that the city is investing in affordable housing: Dogwood to contribute $1.6M grant for city affordable housing | Mountain Xpress
  • The Washington Housing Authority broke ground Friday for its neighborhood revitalization program. The program is a partnership with the City of Washington and will provide more affordable homes for low to moderate income families in Beaufort County: Washington Housing Authority breaks ground for neighborhood program | WITN
  • The city of Durham and the Durham Housing Authority were awarded a $40 million federal grant to redevelop public housing and revitalize the southeast central Durham community through the Choice Neighborhoods program. It’s one of the largest grant amounts received in the country, and DHA residents hope it will improve living conditions: Durham public housing residents hope $40M grant improves ‘unsafe, unlivable’ conditions | WRAL

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Housing Call: September 13, 2022

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