News

This morning, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved its FY 2013 spending bill for Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and restored $50 million in funding to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)’s Sustainable Communities Initiative.

To those of you who took time to write or call your Senator in the past week on behalf of this issue, THANK YOU! This victory would not have been possible without your help!

The Sustainable Communities Initiative is part of the federal Partnership for Sustainable Communities, a collaboration between HUD, the Department of Transportation and the Environmental Protection Agency which coordinates federal housing, transportation, water, and other infrastructure investments to make neighborhoods more prosperous, allow people to live closer to jobs, save households time and money, and reduce pollution.

The Senate’s vote is a huge step forward for the Partnership’s work this year. The Partnership programs are already helping communities across the country use their resources more wisely and support their local economy – read more about these communities on our Partnership blog.

The Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development, and Related Agencies approved a draft of the bill on Tuesday. Click here for more details about funding levels included in the bill.

The Appropriations Committee also approved its overall spending levels, allowing work on other spending bills to move forward.