Congress

Last week, HUD published the Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 Fair Market Rents (FMRs) in the Federal Register. The new rents will become effective on October 1, 2019 for the Housing Choice Voucher program and Moderate Rehabilitation Single Room Occupancy program, unless HUD receives a valid request for reevaluation of specific area FMRs. The notice also includes responses to public comments from the June 5, 2019 Federal Register notice announcing two method changes in the calculation of FMRs.

The National Housing Conference (NHC) released a new white paper on housing finance reform that calls for bipartisan cooperation between Congress and the Trump administration to complete housing finance reform leading to the release of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from conservatorship. he paper establishes seven conditions to guide administrative and statutory reform to ensure that the U.S. will have a well-functioning housing finance system that provides consistent, affordable credit to borrowers across the nation and through all parts of the credit cycle, while minimizing the risk of another taxpayer-funded bailout.

Last week the House Financial Service Committee (HFSC) held a field hearing titled “Examining the Homelessness Crisis in Los Angeles.” In her opening remarks, Chairwoman Maxine Waters called for a  bold and comprehensive response at the federal, state and local levels to address the homelessness crisis.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released its Inadmissibility on Public Charge Grounds Final Rule. The rule denies visas to persons the government deems to be a ‘public charge’, through their income and potential use of federal programs like Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers, Section 8 Project-Based Rental Assistance, and Public Housing programs, as well as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Medicaid and parts of Medicare. The final rule significantly expands the list of federal programs that can be used to determine if someone is deemed a public charge and is scheduled to take effect on Oct. 15, 2019.

The Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS) of Harvard University released a new paper GSE Reform: None or Mostly Done? Author Don Layton argue that while Congress has yet to pass comprehensive reform of the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs), almost all of the major flaws of the pre-conservatorship GSEs have been successfully addressed while the companies have been in conservatorship.

The House Financial Services Committee (HFSC) released its schedule of September hearings. Unless otherwise noted, hearings and markups will take place in 2128 Rayburn House Office Building and will be broadcast live.

Representatives Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), Yvette Clarke (D-NY) and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) introduced the No Biometric Barriers Housing Act of 2019, which would prohibit the use of biometric recognition technology in federally subsidized housing and require HUD to submit a report to Congress on the use of such technology in public housing. T

Senators Brian Schatz (D-HI) and Todd Young (R-IN) introduced the Senate version of the Reforming Disaster Recovery Act of 2019 (S. 2301). The bill would help target Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) resources to survivors with the greatest needs, ensure greater data transparency and oversight, protect civil rights and fair housing, and encourage disaster mitigation and resiliency.

The ACTION Campaign released a series of short videos providing an overview of each of the provisions in the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act of 2019. The ACTION Campaign also released updated fact sheets for congressional districts that show the impact of the Low-Income Housing Tax Credits.

The subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations of the House Financial Services Committee (HFSC) will hold a hearing titled “An Examination of the Housing Crisis in Michigan, 11 Years after the Recession” at noon EDT on August 8 at the Wayne County Community College north west campus (8200 Outer Drive West, Detroit, MI 48219). The full […]

Following the House passage of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2019, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee, sent a letter to the Chairs and Ranking Members of the House Appropriations Committee requesting $5 billion in FY 2020 funding for HUD’s McKinney Vento Homeless Assistance Grant program. Chairwoman Maxine Waters introduced […]

Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, sent a letter to President Donald Trump on recommendations to end homelessness after the president said the following on homelessness in an interview with Fox News’s Tucker Carlson, “It’s disgraceful. I’m going to maybe and I’m looking at it very seriously.”