DarrinS
09-15-2009, 07:55 AM
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125298410509811027.html
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Senate voted overwhelmingly Monday to prevent Acorn, an umbrella group of community organizers, from being able to bid for federal grant money.
The 83-7 vote came as Acorn -- the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now -- has been in the spotlight for hidden-camera videos in which Acorn employees give tax advice to a couple posing as a prostitute and her pimp. Prosecutors in Florida last week issued warrants for several Acorn employees on allegations they falsified voter-registration records last year, and on Friday, the Census Bureau severed ties with the organization as it prepares for the 2010 count.
A spokesman for Acorn didn't return an email seeking comment on the vote. Earlier, a spokesman said Acorn would have no comment until the Senate acted.
Acorn received $1.6 million to provide housing assistance in its current fiscal year, which expires Sept. 30, and according to Republican lawmakers, the group has received $53 million in federal funding since 1994. It has been involved in advising lower-income people as the mortgage foreclosure crisis has deepened.
The measure preventing Acorn from qualifying for federal grant money was introduced by Sen. Mike Johanns (R., Neb.) as an amendment to a spending bill funding the departments of Housing and Urban Development and Transportation in fiscal 2010. The House-passed version of the spending bill doesn't include such language.
It is the third time this year that Republicans have attempted to block Acorn's eligibility for federal funds.
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Senate voted overwhelmingly Monday to prevent Acorn, an umbrella group of community organizers, from being able to bid for federal grant money.
The 83-7 vote came as Acorn -- the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now -- has been in the spotlight for hidden-camera videos in which Acorn employees give tax advice to a couple posing as a prostitute and her pimp. Prosecutors in Florida last week issued warrants for several Acorn employees on allegations they falsified voter-registration records last year, and on Friday, the Census Bureau severed ties with the organization as it prepares for the 2010 count.
A spokesman for Acorn didn't return an email seeking comment on the vote. Earlier, a spokesman said Acorn would have no comment until the Senate acted.
Acorn received $1.6 million to provide housing assistance in its current fiscal year, which expires Sept. 30, and according to Republican lawmakers, the group has received $53 million in federal funding since 1994. It has been involved in advising lower-income people as the mortgage foreclosure crisis has deepened.
The measure preventing Acorn from qualifying for federal grant money was introduced by Sen. Mike Johanns (R., Neb.) as an amendment to a spending bill funding the departments of Housing and Urban Development and Transportation in fiscal 2010. The House-passed version of the spending bill doesn't include such language.
It is the third time this year that Republicans have attempted to block Acorn's eligibility for federal funds.