Nov. 7, 2019
Permission to republish original opeds and cartoons granted.
Local cities rejecting HUD funds over zoning concerns and then accepting them after Congress banned federal interference proves Article I defund works
In 2016, Hampden Township, Pa. opted
out of receiving part of the $1.4 million of community development block grants
from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) had allocated to
Cumberland County. The issue? The 2015 Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing
regulation put in place by the Obama administration that allows HUD to
condition $3 billion of those grants on making changes to local zoning ordinances
to comply federal income and race guidelines. More than 1,200 cities and
counties nationwide receive those grants. But, because of a change to federal
law by Congress to prohibit the use of funds to rezone local cities and
counties under the regulation, allowing cities and counties can decide for
themselves how to use the funds, , Hampden Township has reversed course. But will
the federal government stay out of the way?
Video: Sondland 'presumed' military aid to Ukraine was 'likely' conditioned, doesn't prove quid pro quo
U.S. Ambassador to the European
Union Gordon Sondland has told Congress he “presumed” that military assistance
to Ukraine was “likely” being conditioned on Ukraine publicly stating it was
helping Attorney General William Barr get to the bottom of any Ukrainian
origins of the Russiagate witch hunt and corruption at a natural gas firm, when
he conveyed that information to a Ukrainian presidential aide, but he admits nobody
in the administration told him to do that.
President Trump celebrates judicial confirmations milestone
Americans for Limited Government
President Rick Manning: “President Trump's commitment to restoring the rule of
law and constitutional originalists to the federal bench is having a profound
and lasting impact on America. While the nation typically focuses on Supreme
Court nominees, and these are obviously very important, appeals court and district
court federal judges play a fundamental role in ensuring that the judiciary
does not become an overriding legislative branch. President Trump in his White
House remarks decried the current practice by politically weaponized liberal
jurists to put their own political beliefs ahead of the law. As Antonin Scalia
once said, if judges want to make law, they should run for Congress… The
judiciary is the one branch of government that supersedes elected terms of
office, designed to ensure a continuity of a constitutional rule of law that
withstands political manipulation. One of President Trump's legacies when he
leaves office in January of 2025 will be his transformation of the judicial
branch away from those who would make up the law as they go along and in favor
of those who seek fair, balanced and equal justice under the law."
Daily Caller: Tucson voters overwhelmingly reject Sanctuary city proposal
“In a major defeat for illegal alien
advocates, voters in Tucson, Arizona, overwhelmingly rejected a proposal to
designate it as the state’s one and only ‘sanctuary city.’ Tucson voters on
Tuesday resoundingly opposed an initiative, known as Proposition 205, that
would have given sweeping protections to illegal aliens, and prohibit local law
enforcement from working with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.
At the close of the polls, over 71 percent of voters rejected the measure.”
Local cities rejecting HUD funds over zoning concerns and then accepting them after Congress banned federal interference proves Article I defund works
By Robert Romano
In 2016, Hampden Township, Pa. opted out of receiving part of the $1.4 million of community development block grants that the the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) had allocated to Cumberland County.
The issue? The 2015 Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing regulation put in place by the Obama administration that allows HUD to condition $3 billion of those grants on making changes to local zoning ordinances to comply federal income and race guidelines. More than 1,200 cities and counties nationwide receive those grants.
Specifically, it did so by directing municipalities “to examine relevant factors, such as zoning and other land-use practices that are likely contributors to fair housing concerns, and take appropriate actions in response [emphasis added]” as a condition for receipt of the block grants.
Hampden Township Board of Commissioners President Al Bienstock said, “The provisions were so onerous in ceding the zoning authority to some unelected bureaucrats in the federal government that, reluctantly, we opted out.”
But, because of a change to federal law by Congress to prohibit the use of funds to rezone local cities and counties, Hampden Township has reversed course and will take the funds now.
Division F, Title II of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2019, Section 232 states: “None of the funds made available by this Act may be used by the Department of Housing and Urban Development to direct a grantee to undertake specific changes to existing zoning laws as part of carrying out the final rule entitled ‘Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing’ … or the notice entitled ‘Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Assessment Tool’…”
The same provision sponsored by Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) passed the Senate easily 87 to 9 in 2016.
Meaning, now cities and counties can decide for themselves how to use the funds.
With the change, that was enough for Bienstock and the rest of the board to approve accepting the HUD funds once again. “I want to state absolutely, without qualification, that Hampden Township never discriminates. But our concern was that you would have unelected bureaucrats with the ability make assertions that could have impeded the township’s ability to maintain its zoning laws.”
But it might not last. The 2015 regulation is now being rewritten by the Trump administration. Secretary Ben Carson told the Wall Street Journal in an Aug. 13, 2018 interview that he was still looking at using the grants make changes to zoning: “I would incentivize people who really would like to get a nice juicy government grant [to look at their zoning codes].”
In the case of the Carson plan, the idea does not appear to be to achieve utopian racial or income integration, but to rezone to allow for multifamily properties that were once single family properties, with the goal of increasing housing stock to reduce prices.
While making housing more affordable is certainly a laudable goal in areas where there may be shortages, Americans for Limited Government still takes the view that it ought to be left up to localities to make those determinations, not unelected bureaucrats in Washington, D.C.
For now, the omnibus spending bill bars HUD from getting involved with zoning again, but with another omnibus bill about to be adopted, it remains to be seen if Congress will carry it over again. We also still have yet to see the Trump administration’s rewrite of the regulation is going to be. Will the federal government still be messing around with local zoning? Stay tuned.
Robert Romano is the Vice President of Public Policy at Americans for Limited Government.
Video: Sondland 'presumed' military aid to Ukraine was 'likely' conditioned, doesn't prove quid pro quo
To view online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pc9fWKLLB8k
President Trump celebrates judicial confirmations milestone
Nov. 6, 2019, Fairfax, Va.--Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement praising President Donald Trump and the Republican Senate for confirming 158 federal judges since Jan. 2017:
"President Trump's commitment to restoring the rule of law and constitutional originalists to the federal bench is having a profound and lasting impact on America. While the nation typically focuses on Supreme Court nominees, and these are obviously very important, appeals court and district court federal judges play a fundamental role in ensuring that the judiciary does not become an overriding legislative branch. President Trump in his White House remarks decried the current practice by politically weaponized liberal jurists to put their own political beliefs ahead of the law. As Antonin Scalia once said, if judges want to make law, they should run for Congress.
"The President took particular care to praise the work of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairmen Lindsey Graham and Chuck Grassley in leading the fight to confirm a record number of jurists. The judiciary is the one branch of government that supersedes elected terms of office, designed to ensure a continuity of a constitutional rule of law that withstands political manipulation. One of President Trump's legacies when he leaves office in January of 2025 will be his transformation of the judicial branch away from those who would make up the law as they go along and in favor of those who seek fair, balanced and equal justice under the law."
To view online: https://getliberty.org/2019/11/president-trump-celebrates-judicial-confirmations-milestone/
ALG Editor’s Note: In the following featured report from the Daily Caller’s Jason Hopkins, voters in Tucson, Ariz. reject a proposal to make it the state’s first sanctuary city:
Tucson voters overwhelmingly reject Sanctuary city proposal
By Jason Hopkins
In a major defeat for illegal alien advocates, voters in Tucson, Arizona, overwhelmingly rejected a proposal to designate it as the state’s one and only “sanctuary city.”
Tucson voters on Tuesday resoundingly opposed an initiative, known as Proposition 205, that would have given sweeping protections to illegal aliens, and prohibit local law enforcement from working with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. At the close of the polls, over 71 percent of voters rejected the measure.
Notably, the measure was opposed by every member of the Tucson City Council — all of whom are Democrats. The council members were concerned that its passage would lead to the loss of millions of dollars in federal and state funding. Leaders were very aware of the Trump administration’s fight against other local jurisdictions that have passed sanctuary policies, threatening to withhold federal grants as punishment.
Council members were also concerned that the measure would prohibit the city from working with federal law enforcement on issues that have no relation to immigration enforcement.
“It’s refreshing to see Tucson voters and council members work collectively to reject policies that undermine federal law and harbor criminal illegal aliens,” Matthew Tragesser, spokesperson at the Federation for American Immigration Reform, said in a Wednesday statement to the Daily Caller News Foundation.
“While there are more than 560 sanctuary jurisdictions throughout the country, citizens nationwide are voicing their concerns and stymieing dangerous sanctuary laws. At the state level, Florida recently adopted anti- sanctuary laws. At the local level, Montgomery County, Maryland, has experienced a spate of violent crimes at the hands of illegal aliens, and also just incorporated anti-sanctuary policies,” Tragesser continued.
The proposal’s defeat was more remarkable given the political and racial makeup of Tucson. The southern Arizona city is heavily populated by Hispanic individuals, and has long been a Democratic bastion in an otherwise red state. Every member of the city council, the mayor’s office, and all three congressional districts that cover the city are controlled by the Democratic Party.
Despite this, only 28.6 percent of voters supported the sanctuary measure Tuesday.
Proposition 205 would have largely restricted city police from inquiring about an individual’s immigration status. It would have also prevented police from cooperating with federal immigration authorities in regard to immigration raids and other activities by the agency.
The measure — also referred to as “Keeping Tucson Families Free and Together” — was introduced as a rebuke to a 2010 law passed by state legislators that bans sanctuary cities in Arizona. The People’s Defense Initiative, a pro-immigrant group, campaigned for its passage.
“We are incredibly proud of the hard work and inspiring commitment of our team and the hundreds of Tucsonans who made this campaign their very own,” read a statement from the People’s Defense Initiative following the vote, despite losing by huge margins. “Through this effort, we were able to uplift an important city-wide conversation that changed Tucson for the better.”
As Tucson residents soundly rejected the sanctuary proposal, they also elected Regina Romero as their next mayor — the first Latina to hold the position.
“Tucson’s rejected sanctuary proposition should serve as a model for other jurisdictions wishing to fight back against policies that minimize public safety and encourage more illegal immigration into communities,” Tragesser said.
