FYI: The U.S. House is expected to put its approval on the final version of a bill reauthorizing the HOPE VI program and creating first-time homebuyers aid today, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition in D.C. The HOPE VI program, which offers funds for revitalization projects in public housing complexes, had been on the chopping block throughout this year’s budget negotiations. The White House has called the program ineffective and wasteful: Work has been completed on only 27 percent of the units slated for revitalization since 1993. But congressional negotiators have informally agreed to allow the Senate’s HOPE VI reauthorization amendment to remain in a bill pushed by the White House, which would create a variety of subsidies for first-time, low-income homebuyers. The amendment re-ups the HOPE program until 2006, and adds provisions requiring tenant participation in revitalization plans and strengthening the tenants’ right to return to their old units after a complex has been overhauled. [12/9/03]