LETTER FROM THE CHAIR

dear colleague

I was pleased to see many of you at our Leadership Summit in St. Petersburg, Florida. The event offered a wonderful opportunity to bring together the leadership of our profession and certified economic developers to identify and discuss the upcoming year's key issues and to provide

Certainly one area of major concern for all members is the 2007 proposed budget released by President Bush. The administration proposes cutting about $15 billion from 141 domestic programs as part of the second straight year of cuts to non-security discretionary spending. Unfortunately, the impact of these reductions on economic developers would be profound. Here are some details.

While the Economic Development Administration would receive a $47 million increase from last year's appropriation, the President proposes $2.7 billion for the US Department of Housing and Urban Developments Community Development Block Grant Program. This is a $1 billion reduction from last year's $3.7 billion allocation. Unlike last years SACl proposal, the President's budget keeps the CDBG program at HUD. Like last year, this year's budget continues to propose the elimination of the following HUD programs: Rural Housing and Economic Development, section 108 loan guarantees, Brownfields Economic Development Initiative, and Empowerment Zones.