Created by the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, the CDBG is among one of the largest and longest-running community development programs of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development that support housing development and community revitalization programs. (HUD.gov) It was created differently from traditional federal funding that dictated how states and local governments spent funds. Instead, CDBG allowed “grantees to use funds at their discretion as long as they followed broad guidelines” (Orlebeke and Weicher 2014). This approach reflects a compromise between those who wanted to devolve decision-making power to state and local governments and those who wanted to create a national program benefiting low-income communities.…show more content… CDBG plays an important role in providing “continual funding by providing annual grants on a formula basis to 1209 general units of local government and States while forming collaborative partnerships.” (CDBG.org) Since funds are limited, local government and States must compete against one another for the much needed funding. One of the advantages to the CDBG program is it motivates State and local governments to address difficult housing issues by providing some of the necessary funds. It develops collaborative partnerships between a network of leaders at the federal, State and local levels. Program information, guidelines, reporting, and other resources are made available to partners on individual websites such as HUD.gov, CDBG.org, as well as State and local government sites. Another advantage of collaborative partnerships is each partner exercises power in the decision-making process involving joint resources, agreement to rules, and coordinated activities. For instance, the federal government determines who receives allocated grants, provides leadership, and is responsible to see funds are being used the way intended. Whereas, local communities are empowered to make decisions about how…show more content… This shift towards New Federalism promoted the transfer of power from the federal government to state or local government. “Nixon viewed his federalism strategy as a means of improving and strengthening government, especially at the state and local levels” (Federalism Reform, 12). His New Federalism led the nation on a more conservative course where government, state and local agencies had a balance of power. Nixon was responsible for consolidating categorical grants into block grants, thereby giving states greater flexibility in addressing housing and community development issues, as seen by the CDBG program discussed earlier. It also involved revenue sharing that provided direct, unconditional financial support to state and local governments. Under New Federalism, Nixon believed governmental policies would be more efficient, better managed, run better and cost less. It also enabled federal government to concentrate on issues that affected the nation equally such as the military and security. “At the heart of Nixon’s reforms were to strengthen government and make it more active and creative by placing more power in more places” (Federalism Reform, 12). Programs such as the CDBG is one method of implementing New Federalism by taking federal programs and putting them in the hands of local and State government leaders. Supporters claim that