Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Tim Johnson (D-SD) announced today that the State of South Dakota will receive a $6,530,307 million Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), which will be distributed to communities across the state. The CDBG program funds housing and economic development projects. In addition, the City of Sioux Falls will receive a separate CDBG allocation of $816,097.
“These funds are crucial for economic development in communities across South Dakota. I will continue to work to fund CDBG through my seat of the Appropriation Committee,” Johnson said. “My Hometown Prosperity Plan calls for increased investments in the public good, and this funding is a wonderful example of that kind of investment.”
As a member of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, Johnson has fought for the funding for this program year after year. CDBG funds have been used in previous years to upgrade local drinking water infrastructure, renovate low-income housing, construct fire halls, and fund medical clinics and libraries.
In recent years, the President has repeatedly proposed to slashing CDBG fund. Senator Johnson has consistently joined with bipartisan groups of Senators in rejecting the worst of these proposed cuts. For Fiscal Year 2009, the President has proposed to cut the CDBG program to $2.9 billion from its Fiscal Year 2008 level of $3.6 billion in FY09. Senator Johnson has again committed to defend the CDBG program because of the significant impact it has on projects pivotal to local communities and their plans for growth.
In addition to the CDBG funds, the state of South Dakota will also receive $3,432,605 for the HOME program, which helps to expand the supply of affordable housing to low-income families; $27,887 for the American Dream Downpayment Initiative (ADDI), which promotes home ownership opportunities and provides downpayment and closing cost assistance to low-income and minority households; and $347,692 from the Emergency Shelter Grants (ESG) program to improve the quality and number of emergency homeless shelters.
Separately, the city of Sioux Falls will receive $816,097 in funding for improvements, and an additional $473,226 in funding for the HOME program. Rapid City is expected to receive a CDBG allocation later this year, as it is on a later annual funding schedule than the Sioux Falls and Statewide CDBG programs.
The Hometown Prosperity Plan is a four-pillar agenda for advancing South Dakota's economy from the federal level. The four pillars, or strategies, include "Promoting Partnerships," "Emphasizing Entrepreneurship," "Investing in the Public Good," and "Protecting Pocketbooks." The full plan includes specific actions related to each strategy and can be downloaded from http://johnson.senate.gov.
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