Spending bills fast-tracked; CLF implications

WASHINGTON-Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Robert Byrd (D-W.V.) announced that he would like to see final action on seven appropriations bills by the end of this week. One of the bills to be considered is the Veterans Administration, Housing and Urban Development, and Independent Agencies (VA-HUD) bill, which includes the borrowing authority for the Central Liquidity Facility (CLF), the Community Development Revolving Loan Fund (CDRLF), and the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) fund. The VA-HUD conference committee has been set up but has not acted yet because they were awaiting a final budget decision for 2002. The planned $686 billion budget includes about $84 billion for the VA-HUD bill. The CLF borrowing authority cap in the 2002 appropriations bills is set at $1.5 billion with a $309,000 limit on administrative expenses. The CDRLF would be limited to $1 million, as it has been historically, with $350,000 earmarked for technical assistance grants. The Senate version of the VA-HUD bill gives the CDFI $100 million, while the House version sits at $80 million. Both are well above the administration’s proposed $60 million.