News

New, Leaked Disparate Impact Standard from HUD

| Federal / Agency News

HUD’s forthcoming Notice of Proposed Rulemaking regarding the Discriminatory Effects Standard was recently leaked to Politico. HUD claims that the proposed rule will bring its disparate impact standard in line with the 2015 Supreme Court ruling in Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs v. Inclusive Community Project, Inc. The leaked notice of proposed rulemaking builds upon the Supreme Court’s ruling and proposes five steps for plaintiffs to bring a disparate impact claim.

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3 More Presidential Candidates Release Housing Plans

| General News

Three more 2020 Democratic presidential candidates, Governor Jay Inslee, Former Governor John Hickenlooper and Senator Bernie Sanders, have released housing plans. The three new candidates join the ranks of former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), Mayor Pete Buttigieg, former HUD Secretary Julián Castro, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) who have already released housing plans.

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Harvard JCHS Paper on GSE Reform

| General News

The Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS) of Harvard University released a new paper GSE Reform: None or Mostly Done? Author Don Layton argue that while Congress has yet to pass comprehensive reform of the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs), almost all of the major flaws of the pre-conservatorship GSEs have been successfully addressed while the companies have been in conservatorship.

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Urban Institute Examines How Fresno, Cleveland and Washington, DC Use Opportunity Zones

| General News

In a new feature, the Urban Institute examines three cities’ plans to use Opportunity Zones to revitalize neighborhoods. The authors conclude that while Fresno, CA; Cleveland, OH and Washington, DC have each taken a different approach to regulating land use, they share a common strategy to leverage Opportunity Zones to accelerate their existing community and economic development plans.

Report Finds CDBG Leverages Over $4 per $1 Invested by the Federal Government

| General News

The Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Coalition released a report on program’s impact and funding need. The report finds that the CDBG program has invested nearly $64 billion in local economies since 2000 and every $1.00 of CDBG funding leverages another $4.09 in public and private funding. It also shows that over 92 percent of the 253 local governments that responded to the CDBG Needs Survey have reduced local CDBG-funded programs because of a lack of program funding.