A federal program that funnels more than $500,000 each year to local nonprofits and city renovation projects is one among many in the crosshairs of President Trump’s budget proposal released last week.
Funding set aside for the Community Development Block Grant program, one of the longest-running programs overseen by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, is cut under Trump’s “America First” budget blueprint released May 23.
While the proposal sets aside an extra $54 billion in military spending and money for building a wall on the southern border, it calls for $1 trillion in cuts to a variety of social programs including the CDBG.
While simply suggestive — and several Republican leaders showing skepticism on whether they will back it — the budget proposal is a message to budget appropriations committees to make deep cuts in social programs that were once in safe harbor under former President Barack Obama’s administration.
Mick Mulvaney, one of the budget’s chief architects, said in a media briefing that the proposal measures success not “by how much we spend, but by how many people we actually help.”
“There’s a certain philosophy wrapped up in the budget and that is we are no longer going to measure compassion by the number of programs or the number of people on those programs,” he said on Monday.
Round Rock is receiving $573,000 through the CDBG program this fiscal year. Slightly less than half of that is set aside for sidewalk construction projects along downtown streets. Fifteen percent supplements housing services provided through the Round Rock Area Serving Center and CASA of Williamson County.
About 20 percent, or $114,600, funds management and oversight of the program.
Raynesha Hudnell, city CDBG coordinator, said city staff have discussed a contingency plan if federal funding ends for the program. But despite never seeing such an emphatic threat to defunding the program, she said, city staff are optimistic.
“The funding is very beneficial to a certain population; it’s also beneficial to the nonprofits we fund,” she said. “The folks that run this program are very kindhearted people. They are very dedicated to the community.”
Habitat for Humanity of Williamson County is in its third year of receiving about $50,000 annually through the city’s CDBG program. That funding assists the nonprofit in providing home repairs and acquisitions for low-income families or individuals, many of whom are older adults.
Executive Director Debbie Hoffman said while she is not ready to say “the sky is falling,” she noted the importance of advocating for social service programs.
“It’s important for people to stand up and say these are the benefits,” she said. “We should always be advocating for ways to help our neighbors.”
On Friday, Corry Schiermeyer, spokeswoman for U.S. Rep. John Carter (R-Round Rock), said he has always supported CDBG funding and that Congress ultimately approves the budget.
“The congressman will be working with his colleagues on the Appropriations Committee to work up final funding legislation,” she said in a statement. “But until there is a bill, we won’t speculate on what may or may not be included.”
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