The award is for the Community Development Block Grant Program. This is an annual formula-funded grant. But Congress put an additional $1 billion into the program through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
“Effectively, the commonwealth is getting an extra year’s worth of CDBG funding,” Sablan said.
The Community Development Block Grant may be used for a wide variety of specific purposes, but is primarily intended to expand economic opportunities for low to moderate income persons.
Many communities use CDBG money to fund local organizations that provide public services, to renovate schools, or to help homeowners rehabilitate their property.
Because Recovery Act monies are ultimately supposed to spur economic activity and create or protect jobs, the grant comes with a requirement not found in normal CDBG awards.
The Northern Marianas will be required to give priority to prudent and responsible projects for which contracts can be let through a bidding process within 120 days of the grant agreement.
In a letter to CDBG recipients of Recovery Act funds, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan wrote, “In accepting these funds, it is imperative that you be good stewards of these precious taxpayer dollars by focusing your efforts on the Recovery Act goals of investing in infrastructure that will create or sustain jobs in the near-term and generate maximum economic benefits in the long-term.”
