JACKSON, MS - To help the state reach its goal of building 21,000 affordable-housing units across South Mississippi, Gov. Haley Barbour on Thursday announced plans to commit $100 million more for the Long-Term Workforce Housing Program. If the Department of Housing and Urban Development agrees with the request, Barbour said, it would increase the LTWH program to $350 million - twice the original plan.
Members of the Steps Coalition have argued Barbour's plans don't nearly meet the state's housing need; they accuse him of diverting federal funds that should go for housing to economic development and other things. On Tuesday, members of the coalition told the Senate Housing Committee that 76,000 South Mississippians still have unmet Hurricane Katrina recovery needs.
But Barbour says federal funding for housing needs is adequate, if somewhat cumbersome because of red tape, and notes of the $5.4 billion allocated to Mississippi, more than $3 billion has been committed to Coast housing needs.
The LTWH program, composed of Community Development Block Grant funding, awards federal grants to developers, businesses or nonprofits that plan to build affordable housing to help revive the Coast.
Source: Sun Herald