Kohl Rognized for His commitment to Community Development
KOHL RECOGNIZED FOR HIS COMMITMENT TO COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
Today, U.S. Senator Herb Kohl received the Community Development Congressional Award from the Local Initiative Support Corporation (LISC) for his commitment and years of effort on behalf of community development in Wisconsin. Sen. Kohl has been a leader on providing adequate funding and direction for affordable low-income and rural housing, including funding for new construction and rehabilitation.
"Affordable housing doesn't just help individuals and families -- it helps communities as well. I am proud to today receive this award from an organization as dedicated as LISC is to the creation and maintenance of quality low-income and rural housing," said Kohl.
At the ceremony to accept his award today, Senator Kohl expressed concern over the Administration's commitment to the goal of creating more affordable housing supported by LISC. He criticized the voucher program proposed in the President's 2006 budget request for lacking direction. Senator Kohl supports instead a program created in the FY2006 Transportation, Treasury, The Judiciary and Housing and Urban Development appropriations bill which was voted out of committee earlier this year. This program protects low-income residents from eviction when their landlords convert their apartments to higher rent units -- a problem that particularly affects the low-income elderly in subsidized housing.
LISC helps neighbors build communities, working through local, nonprofit Community Development Corporations. Each year, LILSC invests over $700 million in low-income neighborhoods and rural areas. Since 1980, LISC has raised over $6 billion in grants, loans and equity from supporters and leveraged it to generate over $14 billion for community development. These funds have created over 160,000 homes and 25 million square feet of business and service facilities, employing more than 60,000 people.
http://kohl.senate.gov/~kohl/press/05/09/2005930610.html