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WASHINGTON, DC...D.C. Councilmember David Catania (R-At Large) has been informed that he has been selected as a finalist for a National HOPE Award ("Home Ownership Participation for Everyone"). Catania's HomeStart legislative package to promote homeownership in the District has been nominated as the "Public Policy Initiative of the Year" by the Washington, D.C. Association of Realtors and the Greater Washington Commercial Association of Realtors. Three finalists were selected from nearly 200 nominations. The winner will be announced at the HOPE Awards gala dinner to be held at the National Building Museum on Wednesday evening, October 10, 2001.
A panel of expert judges including Henry Cisneros, former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development; Congressman John L. Lewis (D-Ga); Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-Calif), Nicolas P. Retsinas, director of the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University; and F. Barton Harvey III, Chairman and CEO of the Enterprise Foundation, made the final selection of finalists and winners. Finalists were selected on the basis of impact, innovation, minority focus, contributions to affordable housing and minority acceptance. Catania's HomeStart legislative initiative intends to make rental housing and homeownership more affordable and eases the regulatory burden of rehabilitating housing in the District of Columbia through a number of tax incentives and regulatory reforms. It is currently pending before the D.C. Council and will be the subject of a Council hearing tomorrow, Wednesday, October 10. Catania began his "HomeStart Initiative" in November 2000, and created a "HomeStart Initiative Advisory Committee" in order to identify the barriers and other issues associated with affordable housing. The Committee conducted best practices research and developed several solutions which are contained in the legislation. "The HomeStart Financial Incentives Act of 2001" proposes a number of tax incentives to make homeownership in Revitalization Zones more affordable, encourages the rehabilitation of residential properties, and maintains Section 8 rental housing in the District. A companion bill, "The HomeStart Regulatory Improvement Amendment Act of 2001", streamlines the construction permitting process, standardizes the rehabilitation code, and increases automation by requiring D.C. construction codes to be available over the Internet. The HOPE Awards is a new industry awards program created by a partnership of real estate associations: the California Association of Real Estate Brokers, the Chinese American Real Estate Professionals Association of Southern California, the Chinese Real Estate Association of America, the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals, the National Association of Real Estate Brokers and the National Association of Realtors. Co-sponsoring organizations are Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the National Association of Home Builders, the National Council of La Raza, Habitat for Humanity International, REALTOR.com, Century-21, Coldwell Banker, and ERA Real Estate. For additional information on Catania's Homestart Initiative visit its website at DCHomeStart.com. |
