Cuts > Ideas

In July 2010, Boehner weighed in on the issue again, proposing several amendments to the FY 2011 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) appropriations bill. His suggestions were exclusively cuts. Among them, the Republican leader proposed:

• Terminating a HUD program allocating $300,000 annually to fund $25,000 stipends for 12 students completing their doctoral dissertation on issues related to housing and urban development. While the program no longer sets aside $300,000 for stipends, it’s been adjusted to grant $15,000 one-time grants to 15 doctoral candidates.
• Cutting $40 million from HUD’s Transformation Initiative, which teaches communities that receive HUD funds how to effectively use them. The cut was rejected, but in its defense Boehner said, “If it costs $40 million just to teach them how to spend the money, maybe the money shouldn’t be spent in the first place.”
• Cutting $35 million from the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation, a program to provide grants to rehab homes. Boehner claimed the program was redundant, despite the fact that in 2011, according to the U.S. Census, the country had over 14,224 homes that sat vacant year round – many because of quality problems. In 2010, the country had only 10,315 year-round vacant homes. The proposed cut never saw the light of day.