The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development voted last month to cut the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program by 50 percent, from $3.08 billion in FY 2013 to $1.6 billion in FY 2014.  An amendment proposed by Representative Chaka Fattah (PA) to restore the funding cut was defeated. Local elected officials representing the National League of Cities, National Association of Counties, and U.S. Conference of Mayors have expressed dismay about the proposed cuts. 

Other pending proposals in Congress would eliminate or cap the tax deduction for municipal bonds. Two new reports document the effects of such actions on the economy and infrastructure projects:

• Protecting Bonds to Save Infrastructure and Jobs
• National Association of Counties: Municipal Bonds Build America.

National League of Cities and US Conference of Mayors press release on new report on job impacts due to caps or elimination of tax-exempt status of municipal bonds.