HUD sends stimulus funds to states

WASHINGTON – Feb. 26, 2009 – Nearly 75 percent of the stimulus allocated to the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department has been handed out, department officials said Wednesday.

HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan said $10.1 billion of the $13.61 billion allocated to the department under the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act was sent to recipients Wednesday, one week after President Barack Obama signed the measure into law.

The allocated funding doesn’t require recipients to apply for the funds, meaning they could be distributed quickly, Donovan said in a release. The remaining 25 percent of the funds will be competitively awarded later.

The funds allocated Wednesday cover projects such as weatherizing low-income housing, improving public housing units, lead paint removal, low-income rental assistance, block grant programs and emergency shelter grant programs.

The competitive-bid projects would be used to promote green jobs and mitigate the destabilizing effects of foreclosures on communities.

“I am pleased to announce that we are moving swiftly to get these much-needed funds out to states and cities to create jobs and help stimulate our economy,” Donovan said. “Recovery Act investments in HUD programs will be not just swift, but also effective: they will generate tens of thousands of jobs, help the families and communities hardest hit by the economic crisis, and modernize homes to make them energy efficient.”