Government

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced today that it is charging a group of New Hampshire landlords with housing discrimination for denying families with children the opportunity to rent certain apartments

U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH) joined 40 U.S Senators in urging federal appropriators to include $3.3 billion in federal funding for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 budget. CDBG is a federal program that provides communities with resources to address a wide range of unique community development needs.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced today that it is charging housing providers in Georgia, Louisiana, and New Hampshire with violating the Fair Housing Act by discriminating against families with children.

U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte received the Defender of Housing Award from the New Hampshire Chapter of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) for her work on measures that increase access to affordable housing. Senator Ayotte is the only New England Senator to receive this award this year

U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte today announced that the U.S. Treasury Department's Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund will be awarding $1.5 million to the NH Community Loan Fund for their affordable housing initiatives that help provide financing for low and moderate income families in New Hampshire. In March, Ayotte urged the Senate Appropriations Committee to fully fund the CDFI Fund in upcoming appropriations bills.

Congressman Frank Guinta (NH-01) today addressed a gathering of the National Association of Federal Credit Unions in the nation’s capital, speaking to members about the importance of community financial institutions to the country’s economy, specifically home, business and auto lending. He spoke about credit unions’ role in his own life.

As a result of a roundtable meeting hosted by U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) with Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and members of the Hillsborough County Adult Drug Court in May, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced new national initiatives to use USDA’s rural development resources to help fill the need for transitional housing for people recovering from opioid and other substance use disorders

Congresswoman Annie Kuster (NH-02) welcomed today’s announcement by U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack that New Hampshire has been chosen to host two USDA pilot programs that will improve access to affordable transitional housing to people in recovery for substance use disorders. One of the programs, announced today by the USDA, would make USDA owned properties available for purchase at below market value rates to qualified non-profits providing housing to homeless people in recovery

Recently, U.S. Senators Kelly Ayotte and Angus King (I-ME) introduced a bill to help seniors retain their independence and safely live at home. The bill, The Senior Home Modification Assistance Initiative Act would better coordinate the already-existing federal home modification programs and create more consumer-friendly information so that seniors can utilize these programs to their benefit. Ayotte is a co-founding member of the Assisting Caregivers Today (ACT) Caucus.

New Hampshire Housing graduated its second class of Homeownership Fellows recently. This year-long program accepts applications from emerging leaders in the mortgage origination field and is broken down into six educational development sessions. Sessions include learning about New Hampshire Housing’s entire range of programs, meeting with successful mortgage professionals, spending time at the New Hampshire Legislature, and visiting with other top state and national officials

New Hampshire Housing graduated its second class of Homeownership Fellows recently. This year-long program accepts applications from emerging leaders in the mortgage origination field and is broken down into six educational development sessions. Sessions include learning about New Hampshire Housing’s entire range of programs, meeting with successful mortgage professionals, spending time at the New Hampshire Legislature, and visiting with other top state and national officials.

To mark Earth Day, Senator Shaheen visited the Hollis Montessori School, the first elementary school in the United States to attain the rigorous Passive House efficiency certification, recognizing the school’s exemplary commitment to energy efficiency. During her visit, Senator Shaheen toured the facility’s energy efficient features, and discussed the breakthrough on her energy efficiency legislation, known as Shaheen-Portman, which passed the Senate on Wednesday

Following a recent meeting she held with town officials from several New Hampshire communities experiencing water contamination by the chemical perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), US Senator Kelly Ayotte wrote a follow up letter to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Friday raising several questions and concerns, as well as renewing her call for the Administration to expedite the release of a new health advisory standard for PFOA. She also urged EPA officials to participate in all public meetings regarding water contamination issues in New Hampshire going forward

Congresswoman Annie Kuster (NH-02) introduced the Rural Housing Preservation Act, a bill to help maintain rental assistance for thousands of rural Americans. Kuster introduced the bill after tenants living in a low-income apartment complex in a town in her district – Lebanon, New Hampshire – had their USDA rental assistance threatened because the loan on the property had matured. Congressman Rick Nolan (MN-08) is the lead cosponsor of the legislation, and Senator Shaheen (D-NH) has introduced companion legislation in the Senate

The City of Portsmouth and Pease Development Authority announced an agreement related to the contamination clean-up of the Smith, Harrison and Haven Wells. U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte issued the following statement on today's agreement