City of Alexandria, Virginia
________________
MEMORANDUM
DATE: APRIL 20, 2016
TO: THE HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF CITY COUNCIL
FROM: MARK B. JINKS, CITY MANAGER /s/
DOCKET TITLE:
TITLE
Federal Issues for Discussion with Congressman Don Beyer.
BODY
_________________________________________________________________
ISSUE: Federal issues for discussion with Congressman Don Beyer.
RECOMMENDATION: That City Council receive this report.
DISCUSSION: Periodically, Council meets with members of its Congressional delegation and shares with them its thoughts on federal issues of concern to the City. Council as a body will be meeting with Congressman Don Beyer, for the first time on April 26. Congressman Beyer has now been in office since January 2015. Prior to his service in Congress, Beyer served as Lieutenant Governor of Virginia and as Ambassador to Switzerland and Lichtenstein.
Below is a discussion of some federal issues to bring to the Congressman's attention. Most of these issues focus on the federal budget, where reductions in federal discretionary domestic spending is having a materially negative impact on local government service delivery in areas that have long been a purview of the federal government.
HOUSING ISSUES. Alexandria has a number of residents who are dependent on the federal government for financial assistance for their housing needs. This assistance is generally provided to the City, which then passes it on to those eligible for such assistance.
Alexandria currently uses federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds ($0.8 million per year) from the Department of Housing and Community Development to fully or partially fund a number of City programs: the Home Rehabilitation Loan program, RAMP (the Rental Accessibility Modification Program, which helps low and moderate income renters who have physical disabilities make accessibility modifications to their residences), Fair Housing Test...
Click here for full text