Stimulus: States allocated $5B for affordable housing - New Mexico Business Weekly:

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States will use the money to help developers financw the acquisition and construction of affordable rental The funds are designed to fill the financingt gap created by the frozen market for Low Income HousinggTax Credits, a federap program that provides incentives for investment in rental housing for low- and moderate-incomwe families. As many as 1,000p housing projects around the country are on hold because the valued of the tax credits has plummeted due to thecreditr crisis, according to the Treasurg Department.
Treasury collaborated with the Department of Housing and Urbanm Development on the programs to assist statesz in financing affordablehousing “These programs are an important step in achieving the goal of puttint American people back to work, while at the same time providingt quality, affordable housing options for low-incomwe families,” HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan said. HUD also signeds an agreement with the Department of Energyg that will make it easiefr for residents of HUD public and assisted housing to weatherizetheirr homes.
The income verification requirementws for the Departmentof Energy’s Weatherization Assistanc e Program, which received $5 billion through the economicc stimulus bill, are the same as for HUD housing subsidies. Under the agreement signed by the two residentsof HUD-assisted housing won’t have to go through the income verificatio process again in order to have theire homes weatherized. “Thanks to this new partnership, we’re going to tear down the unnecessary barriers in making the homexof low-income and elderly citizens more energy-efficient, and shredc the red tape that too often stands betweenm government assistance and the people it is meant to Vice President Joe Biden “In the process, we’ll not only brinvg down energy costs, but also create new greenj jobs that will be the foundatiobn of our economic recovery.
” Constructioh companies that have received contracts for projecte funded by the economic stimulus bill are beginninvg to hire new workers or rehirer laid-off employees, according to . “Early reports indicated that the infrastructure piecr of the stimulus is beginning to do exactly whatwas intended, put construction workers back on the said AGC Chief Economist Ken Simonson. Other contractorzs are canceling planned layoffsd becauseof stimulus-funded contracts, Simonson said. For many stimulus projects are keeping a bad business environment fromgetting worse, he said. The number of constructionh jobs declinedby 110,000 in according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Withoutt stimulus-funded projects, that number woulxd have been much worse, Simonsojn said. Overall, nonfarm payroll employment fellby 539,0090 jobs in April, the smallesty decline in six months. This couldr be a sign that the economy is beginninfgto stabilize, which “is consistent with the notion that demand for new constructiojn will begin to emerge lateer this year and into 2010,” said Anirban chief economist for Associated Builders and “The stimulus package represents an importantt element in that formula,” Basu said.
“With the broaded economy beginning to recover even before the stimulusx package has had amajor impact, the implication is that bettee times are ahead.” Energy to award $787 million for biofuels R&D The Department of Energyt plans to use $787 milliohn in economic stimulus funds for biorefinery demonstratiob projects, and advanced biofuels researcuh and development. The department will award $480 million for pilot- and demonstration-scalse biorefineries that produceadvanced biofuels, and heat and power in an integrated system. Theser projects will facilitate the development of an advancef biofuels industry to helpthe U.S.
reduce its dependencee on petroleum-based transportation fuels, according to the Departmenft of Energy.