Mayor Fulop Slams President Trump’s Proposed $6 Billion Budget Cuts to HUD Saying Impact Will Set the Clock Back Years on Progress Being Made in Cities like Jersey City and Around the Country

Trump Budget Proposal Calls for Elimination of CDBG Program; Jersey City stands to lose over $9 million annually as a result of the cuts, with local non-profits being hardest hit

JERSEY CITY – Mayor Steven M. Fulop today slammed President Trump’s draconian proposal to cut $6 billion in funding for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, noting that the cuts would set the clock back years on progress made in cities like Jersey City and throughout the nation. Jersey City stands to lose over $9 million annually as a result of the cuts, with local non-profits – and those they serve – being hardest hit.

The proposal, which eliminates entirely the decades-old Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program, would have devastating effects on cities like Jersey City, where the funding has been a vital part of urban redevelopment and the elimination of blight, as well as providing critical social services like after-school programming, services for the homeless, Meals on Wheels, and job training, amongst others.  Specifically, in Jersey City, CDBG funding has been used to help support non-profits such as New City Kids, the Urban League, Garden State Episcopal CDC, and Women Rising, amongst dozens of other programs over the years.

“With these budget cuts, the President is turning the back the clock and reversing years and years of progress that has been made in cities like Jersey City, Newark and across the country,” said Mayor Fulop.  “He is cutting programs we know are having a positive impact in urban areas, whether by turning a vacant building into a home or providing job training for the unemployed. These are investments in communities and investments in people.  The Trump budget overlooks entirely how successful these programs have been and the role that HUD plays in local communities.”

Since 2010, Jersey City has received $40.7 million in CDBG funding and $11.9 million in federal HOME funding.  In 2016 alone, Jersey City received $9.6 million in HUD entitlement grants, which includes $5.4 million for the CDBG program.

“These budget cuts take direct aim at our cities, which are predominantly lower-income and minority communities, and there is no way that fact can be ignored,” added Mayor Fulop.

Additionally, the Trump budget blueprint contains significant cuts to public housing, eliminating the HOME Investment Partnerships Program, the Choice Neighborhoods program and the Self-help Homeownership Opportunity Program, all of which help redevelop low-income communities and foster homeownership.

These cuts may place a significant strain on public housing authorities across the country, including a loss of up to 200,000 subsidized housing vouchers in coming years, although the immediate impact to Jersey City is not known.

The Jersey City Housing Authority, which provides housing to nearly 15,000 Jersey City residents at public housing sites and through the voucher program, receives over $50 million annually in funding from HUD for operating expenses at public housing properties, for capital improvements at public housing sites and for the Section 8 housing choice voucher program.

“The Jersey City Housing Authority has been a leader in transforming public housing from silos of concentrated poverty and crime to mixed-income communities – places that are changing neighborhoods and which the residents are proud to call home,” said Mayor Fulop.  “HUD has long been a source of opportunity for communities and these cuts impact the neediest of our residents, including seniors and the disabled. We hope that Republicans in Congress reject this budget and recognize the harm it poses to not only cities, but the entire nation.”