Block Grants

Vouchers? Block grants? Privatization? Fiscal asphyxiation in an era of fierce government cost-cutting? Where is public housing headed in America?No one knows the answer for sure. The only certainty is that the system's biggest error -- the massive crime-, grime- and graffiti- afflicted high-rise apartment blocks in some American cities -- is no longer tolerable.The federal government has sunk $90 billion into public housing since 1937 and today can point to 1.4 million units. All but a few hundred thousand are, in fact, well enough run and in decent shape.

Supporters of a $2.4 billion plan to rebuild Baltimore's crumbling schools made a show of support in Annapolis on Monday night as thousands of people staged a loud, festive rally outside the State House to urge passage of legislation to launch the program. Teachers, students, parents and others described deplorable conditions in city schools - ranging from disgusting bathrooms and broken windows to stifling classrooms and inadequate computer labs - as they called upon lawmakers to provide the resources to rebuild the state's oldest school buildings.

Westminster will receive block grants to extend wastewater treatment to 19 homes in Cranberry and to explore turning the former West End School into an adult day care center and senior housing.The Community Development Block Grant is federal money distributed by the state. Gov. Parris N. Glendening sent word of the awards last week.The homes, in an unincorporated area in Cranberry, have failing septic systems. A grant for $253,000 will pay for the city of Westminster to extend wastewater services to those homes.

Contrary to the assertion of Michael Cannon in his recent op-ed ( "Paul Ryan's Medicaid block grants: good for Maryland," May 4), converting the Medicaid program to a block grant would be extremely harmful to Maryland, its residents, and its economy. Block-granting Medicaid is a way for the federal government to shirk its financial responsibility to the state, and Gov. Martin O'Malley wisely advocated on our behalf to preserve adequate funding for these programs which serve hundreds of thousands of our state's children, parents, seniors and people with disabilities.

Burlington, Vt -- Along with exhilaration at the prospect of finally gaining dramatic new power, during their recent meeting here the nation's governors were worrying quietly:What happens if the mega-block grant revolution actually comes off? What if Washington does block and dispatch all of welfare and Medicaid, plus dozens of child care, job-training and related programs to the states? How will we redesign and work the programs? What if the block grant monies from Congress fall short of our needs?

Leaders of some 30 civic associations, PTAs and programs for the needy came to the Arundel Center North Wednesday night to plead for slices of a pie that's only big enough to serve about half of them.Some of the groups applying for the county's annual $2 million federal allotment for Community Based Block Grants have come to the table with bigger appetites than others, and the county will be serving about 20 percent of the pie to itself to pay for planning and administration of the money.

Howard County Executive James N. Robey has announced that eight county organizations have been awarded Local Law Enforcement Block Grants totaling $151,619. The grants, to be used to boost crime prevention efforts in the county, are sponsored by the U.S. Department of Justice. "These grants have become a success story toward improving public safety and contributing to the health and safety of our communities," Robey said this week. "I am confident that this new round of funding will continue to support our anti-crime crusade."

Baltimore, which for years has been criticized by federal officials for lax oversight of city programs receiving federal block grants, yesterday agreed to hire 10 auditors to ensure that expenditures are properly monitored.Baltimore Department of Housing and Community Development officials yesterday acknowledged that the present eight monitors are inadequate to oversee the spending of 83 groups that get block grants in the city. Block grant rules require the city to monitor the groups, which provide a range of non-profit services from low-income housing development to community block-watch programs, quarterly.

WASHINGTON -- After months of contentious debate, the Senate approved legislation last night to set up tax-free savings accounts for education costs, thwart proposed national testing and fold a broad swath of federal education programs into block grants for states or localities.Republican proponents proclaimed the bill a bold step toward improving education, perennially a top voter concern.The savings accounts, they said, would encourage parental involvement in schools while helping families pay for private or public education.

An article June 25 about a future hearing on Communit Development Block Grant funds reported incorrectly that Daniel P. Henson III, Baltimore's housing commissioner, could not be reached to comment. In fact, Mr. Henson returned a reporter's call in the early evening and left a message on voice mail.The Sun regrets the errors.Baltimore's new housing commissioner is holding a public hearing on how to spend $27.8 million in 1994 federal neighborhood grants, but he has made it clear to neighborhood groups that most of the money is already committed to specific projects.

Already grappling with reduced grant funding from Anne Arundel County, Annapolis-based nonprofit groups could be confronting a second round of cuts. Alderwoman Julie Stankivic has proposed a bill to prohibit organizations from requesting federal and city grant money in the same year. "We have limited funding available, and it makes no sense that the same entity gets [federal] funds as well as city funds when there are so many worthy causes that go unfunded," said Stankivic, an independent from Ward 6. "If we want to have the greatest impact for the greatest number, we have to prioritize the funds."

Last spring, Baltimore officials pressured a local developer, threatening to blackball her from city contracts until she repaid at least some of the $1.3 million she made selling a building she promised to convert into low-income housing. But months later, Baltimore has yet to see a dime from Savannah Development Corp. President BettyJean Murphy. And it is unclear when - or if - any money will be returned to the city's ever-needy community block grant program. City officials and Murphy cannot agree on the developer's obligations to return the million-dollar profit she made by selling the property bought in 1995 with a $368,000 public grant.

Another proposed change in a federal housing program, and another potential loss in money for Baltimore. The change, proposed last week by the Bush administration, would alter the formula used by the Department of Housing and Urban Development to determine the distribution of Community Development Block Grant funds to cities and counties across the country. The cost to Baltimore if the change goes through: $1.2 million, or about 5 percent of the money it currently receives from the program, according to HUD's own analysis.

BALTIMORE Planning panel approves affordable housing fund Baltimore's Planning Commission unanimously approved yesterday the creation of a $59 million affordable housing trust fund. Mayor Martin O'Malley's administration created the fund in July to win City Council support for its plan for a $305 million publicly funded convention center hotel. Church and community activists had demanded the city invest in neighborhoods before a downtown hotel. The city would assemble $59 million over five years to build the fund.

WASHINGTON - Lost amid the debate over President Bush's effort to cut taxes and revamp Medicare is an attempt to reshape the program that provides housing assistance to the poor. The Bush administration wants to change Section 8 from a program that gives rent vouchers to nearly 2 million low-income families to a system of block grants that states would control. With $1 billion to $2 billion worth of vouchers lost each year to fraud and mismanagement, Bush administration officials argue that Section 8 needs an overhaul.

Howard County Executive James N. Robey has announced that eight county organizations have been awarded Local Law Enforcement Block Grants totaling $151,619. The grants, to be used to boost crime prevention efforts in the county, are sponsored by the U.S. Department of Justice. "These grants have become a success story toward improving public safety and contributing to the health and safety of our communities," Robey said this week. "I am confident that this new round of funding will continue to support our anti-crime crusade."

Washington. -- House Republicans, intent on cutting domestic programs to balance the budget over seven years, aim to fold 336 separate categorical aid programs into block grants. The Senate has voted for $190 billion in cuts, with committees instructed to combine hundreds of programs into block grants.And the Clinton administration, too, is urging the consolidation of 271 categoricals into 27 so-called Performance Partnerships -- a clear form of block granting.The block-grant idea is not new. In Richard Nixon's administration, they were associated with ''New Federalism.

City Council President Mary Pat Clarke was hardly hesitant to bash the Schmoke administration over spending $25.6 million in federal money on Baltimore's controversial no-bid housing repair program.But when asked about the same issues by the national media, she didn't hesitate to walk.Yesterday, Mrs. Clarke abruptly ended an interview at City Hall with a reporter and producer from the "MacNeil-Lehrer NewsHour" after the second question. The news show is preparing a story about local government's use of federal Community Development Block Grants.

In Baltimore County Police to hold hearing on use of federal block grants TOWSON - The Baltimore County Police Department will hold a public hearing Jan. 3 to discuss the allocation of funds from federal criminal justice block grants. Representatives from the department will be available to discuss the use of previous block grants, along with federal criteria and possible ways to spend the next $2.1 million, two-year grant, which becomes available after July 1. Police officials also will solicit ideas from the public on how best to spend the money.

County police are planning to send additional patrols to targeted neighborhoods where burglaries, robberies and other street crimes have become commonplace and have generated fear among residents. The patrols, part of the department's Street Crimes Reduction Program, are being paid for with $74,745 from the U.S. Department of Justice Block Grant Program. Howard County received $158,899 in federal funds and county officials chipped in another $17,100 for the police, state's attorney, sheriff's department and corrections anti-crime efforts.