Dear Supporter,
This week, the “short session” of the NC General Assembly opens. The short session is designed to make adjustments to the budget that was passed the previous year and to handle bills that passed through either the House or the Senate. This year, legislators will be facing another budget shortfall of nearly $1 billion.
A few weeks ago, Gov. Perdue released her budget that attempted to address many of the challenges the state is facing while bringing the overall budget into balance. We were pleased to see no cuts to housing programs, but know that there were many painful cuts to services needed by low-income and vulnerable populations.
For this reason, we will again play an active role in the Together NC coalition. This coalition encourages legislators to create a budget that can more efficiently and effectively meet the needs of the state’s residents in a balanced approach of cuts and revenue reforms. For more information on Together NC, click here.
Two non-budget related efforts we will be working on are the continued funding for the Commissioner of Banks’ Foreclosure Prevention Programs (which included funding for housing counseling organizations) and a Homebuyer/Homeowner Protection Act that is led by Sen. Josh Stein (Wake). More information on these efforts will follow in future Housing Matters.
We are especially pleased that Kris Fountain, the new director of the NC Association of Housing Counselors will be working out of our office while he is in Raleigh to advocate on housing counseling issues. We look forward to taking a lead role with Kris to generate more funding for better consumer protections related to home buying and the foreclosure process.
Please visit the legislative update section below for the latest news out of the General Assembly and to see our NC Legislative Agenda.
NC Housing News
On May 28th, I will be on a panel at the NC Community Development Conference to talk about the legislation that passed last year making affordable housing a protected class under the NC Fair Housing Act. This conference brings together Community Development departments of local governments from across the state. We are hoping to educate local governments on why they need to be more proactive on affordable housing in their communities and less discriminatory in working against these efforts.
The Brookings Institute has released a new report on the nation’s metropolitan regions that is an interesting read for those involved in affordable housing. A news article on the report is included in this issue. The report discusses several NC regions and highlights the need for more affordable housing in areas where jobs are being created as well as transit centers that are created to manage growth. The report is available on their website for free download.
Read our Blog and “Friend” Us!
Please continue to check out our blog and Facebook page. Our staff will be using these two pages as a way to get current information out to you on a daily basis. Please visit nchousing.blogspot.com and give us your thoughts. Our Facebook page is located here.
Thanks for all that you do and your continued support.
Sincerely,
Chris Estes
Executive Director
This week, the “short session” of the NC General Assembly opens. The short session is designed to make adjustments to the budget that was passed the previous year and to handle bills that passed through either the House or the Senate. This year, legislators will be facing another budget shortfall of nearly $1 billion.
A few weeks ago, Gov. Perdue released her budget that attempted to address many of the challenges the state is facing while bringing the overall budget into balance. We were pleased to see no cuts to housing programs, but know that there were many painful cuts to services needed by low-income and vulnerable populations.
For this reason, we will again play an active role in the Together NC coalition. This coalition encourages legislators to create a budget that can more efficiently and effectively meet the needs of the state’s residents in a balanced approach of cuts and revenue reforms. For more information on Together NC, click here.
Two non-budget related efforts we will be working on are the continued funding for the Commissioner of Banks’ Foreclosure Prevention Programs (which included funding for housing counseling organizations) and a Homebuyer/Homeowner Protection Act that is led by Sen. Josh Stein (Wake). More information on these efforts will follow in future Housing Matters.
We are especially pleased that Kris Fountain, the new director of the NC Association of Housing Counselors will be working out of our office while he is in Raleigh to advocate on housing counseling issues. We look forward to taking a lead role with Kris to generate more funding for better consumer protections related to home buying and the foreclosure process.
Please visit the legislative update section below for the latest news out of the General Assembly and to see our NC Legislative Agenda.
NC Housing News
On May 28th, I will be on a panel at the NC Community Development Conference to talk about the legislation that passed last year making affordable housing a protected class under the NC Fair Housing Act. This conference brings together Community Development departments of local governments from across the state. We are hoping to educate local governments on why they need to be more proactive on affordable housing in their communities and less discriminatory in working against these efforts.
The Brookings Institute has released a new report on the nation’s metropolitan regions that is an interesting read for those involved in affordable housing. A news article on the report is included in this issue. The report discusses several NC regions and highlights the need for more affordable housing in areas where jobs are being created as well as transit centers that are created to manage growth. The report is available on their website for free download.
Read our Blog and “Friend” Us!
Please continue to check out our blog and Facebook page. Our staff will be using these two pages as a way to get current information out to you on a daily basis. Please visit nchousing.blogspot.com and give us your thoughts. Our Facebook page is located here.
Thanks for all that you do and your continued support.
Sincerely,
Chris Estes
Executive Director
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