FYI: The House subcommittee responsible for Housing and Urban Development appropriations passed its funding bill this week, all but zeroing out the HOPE VI program. The bill allots just $50 million for the program, which Congress funded at nearly $600 million last year, according to the Council of Large Public Housing Authorities. The Bush administration has pushed for ending the program, arguing that it has outlasted its utility and that it has built-in flaws that make it wasteful. Congressional supporters and advocates charge that problems with the program stem from HUD’s poor management of it, an assertion supported by a recent GAO report. [7/18/03]