Introduction: Federal Decentralization and Its Diverse Effects on the Community Development Block Grant

Abstract

The intergovernmental partnership between the federal and local governments has evolved since the 1970s with three major trends: an expansion of local control over federally funded programs, consolidations of numerous categorical grants into block grants, and a dispersion of many federal programs from the most distressed inner cities to suburban and sunbelt localities. Recent policies of the Reagan administration have accelerated this transfer of program responsibility by adding nine block grants under state administration and by relaxing federal regulations and enforcement policies. The case studies in this issue of Publius focus on how local governments have reacted to these trends as they have implemented one very broad federal program, the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG). The 1974 act merged seven categorical grants (urban renewal, model cities, water and sewer facilities, open spaces, neighborhood facilities, rehabilitation loans, and public facilities loans) into one block grant with fewer regulatory constraints and with considerable local discretion over program priorities. Permissible uses of the grant are broadly stated and multiple. They include capital and operating activities for housing, neighborhood conservation, commercial, and economic development; completion of urban renewal projects, public works, and social services; and planning, management, and administration.