Free Daily Headlines :

  • COVID-19
  • Vaccine Info
  • Money
  • Politics
  • Education
  • Health
  • Justice
  • More
    • Environment
    • Economic Development
    • Gaming
    • Investigations
    • Social Services
    • TRANSPORTATION
  • Opinion
    • CT Viewpoints
    • CT Artpoints
DONATE
Reflecting Connecticut’s Reality.
    COVID-19
    Vaccine Info
    Money
    Politics
    Education
    Health
    Justice
    More
    Environment
    Economic Development
    Gaming
    Investigations
    Social Services
    TRANSPORTATION
    Opinion
    CT Viewpoints
    CT Artpoints

LET�S GET SOCIAL

Show your love for great stories and out standing journalism

Blumenthal, Murphy sponsor bills to help homeowners with crumbling foundations

  • Politics
  • by Ana Radelat
  • April 25, 2018
  • View as "Clean Read" "Exit Clean Read"

A crumbling foundation

Washington – Connecticut’s U.S. senators on Wednesday introduced a pair of bills aimed at helping homeowners with crumbling foundations, but conceded it will be an “uphill fight” to win congressional approval of the legislation.

The Aid to Homeowners with Crumbling Foundations Act introduced by Sen. Chris Murphy and co-sponsored by Sen. Richard Blumenthal would provide up to $100 million over five years from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to states like Connecticut that have created programs  to help damage to residential structures built with concrete containing pyrrhotite,  a mineral that expands with moisture and causes foundations to bow and crack.

About  three dozen towns in north-central and northeastern Connecticut have foundations built with concrete containing pyrrhotite from a quarry in Willington.

Last year, the Connecticut General Assembly established a Crumbling Foundations Assistance Fund to allow $100 million in bonding over the next five years to assist victimized homeowners.

The Crumbling Foundations Small Business and Homeowners Assistance Act  would create a new $100 million grant program within the Federal Emergency Management Agency, an agency that has rebuffed Gov. Dannel Malloy’s requests for help for affected homeowners.

If the legislation is approved, qualified homeowners would apply to FEMA directly for a grant.

“Money that would be provided by these bills are desperately needed and deserved,” Blumenthal said. He also said “FEMA is designed to respond to natural disasters.”

FEMA says Connecticut’s crumbling foundations are the result of bad building material, not natural disasters. But the agency would be required to distribute grant money to affected homeowners if the bill becomes law.

Murphy said congressional approval of the legislation “is going to be an uphill battle.” “Many of our colleagues see this as a local problem that the state should respond to,” he said.

Currently, only homes in Connecticut — and to a lesser extent, Massachusetts — have been determined to have foundations built with pyrrhotite.

In their conference Wednesday, both Blumenthal and Murphy also said they would continue to press insurers to pay the claims of homeowners with crumbling foundations. “They must do their part,” Blumenthal said. “They took their premiums and changed policy language after they learned of the problem. That is a shirking of responsibility.”

Murphy said the senators decided to introduce their bills after HUD Secretary Ben Carson said during a Senate hearing last week that he would work with them to help homeowners. “It’s a very valid issue and yes, we would be very happy to work with you on that,” Carson said.

Murphy said “we felt with the commitment of the Trump administration,” it was time to introduce legislation.

Murphy also said the price tag of the bills was set at $100 million apiece “because it’s likely the biggest number we can get our colleagues to agree to.”

Meanwhile, there is another way the federal government has offered to help.

At the behest of Reps. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, and John Larson, D-1st District, the Internal Revenue Service agreed to  allow Connecticut homeowners with crumbling foundations to take a federal tax deduction for the cost of any repair made before 2021.

“The [deduction] is available to a taxpayer who has obtained a written evaluation from a licensed engineer indicating that the foundation was made with defective concrete, and has requested and received a reassessment report that shows the reduced reassessed value of the residential property based on the written evaluation from the engineer,” the IRS said in new guidance released earlier this year.

Homeowners who want to take this deduction must have included it in their 2017 tax filings or, if the work is done in 2018, 2019, or 2020, they must amend their 2017 return to take the deduction.

Sign up for CT Mirror's free daily news summary.

Free to Read. Not Free to Produce.

The Connecticut Mirror is a nonprofit newsroom. 90% of our revenue comes from people like you. If you value our reporting please consider making a donation. You'll enjoy reading CT Mirror even more knowing you helped make it happen.

YES, I'LL DONATE TODAY

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ana Radelat Ana has written about politics and policy in Washington, D.C.. for Gannett, Thompson Reuters and UPI. She was a special correspondent for the Miami Herald, and a regular contributor to The New York TImes, Advertising Age and several other publications. She has also worked in broadcast journalism, for CNN and several local NPR stations. She is a graduate of the University of Maryland School of Journalism.

SEE WHAT READERS SAID

RELATED STORIES
CT legislature poised to make early budget pledge to help cities and towns
by Keith M. Phaneuf

The state House is expected to approve more than $100 million in new, annual PILOT grants to municipalities.

Connecticut GOP picks Susan Hatfield as state chair
by Mark Pazniokas

Susan Hatfield, vice chair of the Connecticut Republican Party, will complete the term of the former chair, J.R. Romano.

Senator alleges voter fraud, but no complaint was filed
by Mark Pazniokas

Rob Sampson said a voter in his district was told an absentee ballot already had been cast in her name.

Boston Fed chief predicts strong economic recovery begins in 2nd half of 2021 if vaccine reaches enough people
by Keith M. Phaneuf

A strong economic rebound also depends on states helping those hit hardest by COVID-19, a federal reserve official said.

A pledge to share sales tax receipts with towns still goes unfulfilled. Was it a case of fiscal bait-and-switch?
by Keith M. Phaneuf

Hundreds of millions of dollars have yet to arrive, leaving municipal leaders wary of new proposed aid.

Support Our Work

Show your love for great stories and outstanding journalism.

$
Select One
  • Monthly
  • Yearly
  • Once
Artpoint painter
CT ViewpointsCT Artpoints
Opinion Better rail service will boost Naugatuck Valley economy
by Kara Rochelle

For residents of the Naugatuck Valley, whether you ride the train or not, increased rail service will directly and positively affect your life. Increased and reliable rail service means increases in property values.

Opinion Why a Connecticut family foundation is funding the national movement for Black lives
by William Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund. Board and Staff

The last several years have thrust racial injustice against Black people not only into the media spotlight, but also into our emerging public consciousness about the continued consequences of our nation’s legacy of slavery, Jim Crow, and segregation.

Opinion Statewide standardized testing this Spring: To what end?
by Christopher E. Trombly

Despite many challenges, Congressional committees in both houses remain steadfast in their belief that state standardized testing should be administered this spring.  They cite the recent announcement that NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) testing will not be conducted this year as adding to this “moral imperative.” Better would be for state departments of education to use the myriad data that administrators and teachers have naturally collected since March to allocate resources that will allow for student learning to be recovered, and for historic structural inequities to be addressed at long last.

Opinion Felons and non-citizens on Connecticut juries? Not a good idea
by Steven Wilf

A move is afoot to extend the privilege of sitting on a jury to released felons and non-citizen long-term residents. According to a recent report, supported by Connecticut Chief Justice Richard Robinson, making this change would increase Black and Latinx representation. This is a laudatory goal. But it undermines the very foundations of jury participation as a key aspect of citizenship.

Artwork Grand guidance
by Anne:Gogh

In a world of systemic oppression aimed towards those of darker skintones – representation matters. We are more than our equity elusive environments, more than numbers in a prison and much more than victims of societal dispositions. This piece depicts a melanated young man draped in a cape ascending high above multiple forms of oppression. […]

Artwork Shea
by Anthony Valentine

Shea is a story about race and social inequalities that plague America. It is a narrative that prompts the question, “Do you know what it’s like to wake up in new skin?”

Artwork The Declaration of Human Rights
by Andres Chaparro

Through my artwork I strive to create an example of ideas that reflect my desire to raise social consciousness, and cultural awareness. Jazz music is the catalyst to all my work, and plays a major influence in each piece of work.”

Artwork ‘A thing of beauty. Destroy it forever’
by Richard DiCarlo | Derby

During times like these it’s often fun to revisit something familiar and approach things with a different slant. I have been taking some Pop culture and Art masterpieces and applying the vintage 1960’s and 70’s classic figures (Fisher Price, little people) to the make an amusing pieces. Here is my homage to Fisher -Price, Yellow […]

Twitter Feed
A Twitter List by CTMirror

Engage

  • Reflections Tickets & Sponsorships
  • Events
  • Donate
  • Newsletter Sign-Up
  • Submit to Viewpoints
  • Submit to ArtPoints
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Commenting Guidelines
  • Legal Notices
  • Contact Us

About

  • About CT Mirror
  • Announcements
  • Board
  • Staff
  • Sponsors and Funders
  • Donors
  • Friends of CT Mirror
  • History
  • Financial
  • Policies
  • Strategic Plan

Opportunity

  • Advertising and Sponsorship
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Use of Photography
  • Work for Us

Go Deeper

  • Steady Habits Podcast
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Five Things

The Connecticut News Project, Inc. 1049 Asylum Avenue, Hartford, CT 06105. Phone: 860-218-6380

© Copyright 2021, The Connecticut News Project. All Rights Reserved. Website by Web Publisher PRO