Congress

The U.S. House of Representatives House Financial Services Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee recently held a hearing about reducing waste, fraud, and abuse at HUD.

House Finance Services Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) recently announced intentions to introduce the Protecting American Taxpayers and Homeowners (PATH ) Act, a measure which according to Hensarling, would create a more sustainable housing finance system.

On Tuesday, August 6, President Obama delivered a speech in Phoenix, Arizona detailing his plan for promoting a strong and stable housing market. The speech addressed several core principles but mainly focused on balancing housing policy to support both sustainable homeownership options and affordable rental opportunities.

Senators Tim Johnson (D-SD), Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, and Mike Crapo (R-ID), the Committee’s Ranking Member, released a discussion draft of the Federal Housing Administration Solvency Act of 2013, which would implement several reforms designed to improve the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and to ensure the solvency of the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund.

On May 22, 28 members of Congress sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Jack Lew urging the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to support expedited guidance regarding the criteria a partnership must meet in order to be able to participate in the federal historic rehabilitation tax credit (HTC) program.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a new report entitled “Corporate Tax Expenditures: Information on Estimated Revenue Losses and Related Federal Spending Programs.” The report comes out as the U.S. Congress begins more serious consideration of tax reform. Presumably the data will be used to inform decisions as the topic is debated further and could have an impact on various programs utilized by NH&RA members. The report does not make any policy recommendations or endorsements regarding specific programs but does outline costs, revenue forgone and provides a basis for comparison acorss budget functions.

HUD has released several notices recently regarding sequestration and budget impacts on programs including FHA mortgage insurance firm commitments, homeless assistance grant programs, and more.

In a recent speech given at Georgetown University, President Obama recently unveiled his Climate Action Plan, which aims at reducing carbon pollution and tackling climate change. The report is meant to be a blueprint for achieving steady, responsible, national, and international action to slow the effects of climate change in order to achieve a cleaner, more stable environment. In the report, President Obama referenced several initiatives that would have an impact on the multifamily affordable housing community.

Senators Bob Corker (R-TN) and Mark Warner (D-VA) recently introduced the Housing Finance Reform and Taxpayer Protection Act of 2013 (S.1217), which would reform the secondary housing finance market by eliminating Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and replacing the agencies with the Federal Mortgage Insurance Company (FMIC).

The Senate Appropriations Committee recently approved the FY 2014 spending allocations, also known as 302(b)s, for its 12 subcommittees , including the Transportation-HUD (T-HUD) and Agriculture-Rural Development Subcommittees. The Senate Budget Committee had set the overall FY 2014 discretionary spending cap, known as the 302(a), at $1.058 trillion, which is equal to the President’s FY 2014 budget request.

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) recently sent a letter to agency and department heads informing them that FY 2015 budget submissions should include reductions that bring the overall submission to a level that is 10 percent below the net discretionary FY 2015 total provided for the agency in the FY 2014 budget.

Senators Roy Blunt (R-MO) and Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) recently introduced a measure to make permanent the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) program. The NMTC program was recently extended in the fiscal cliff deal but is set to expire at the end of 2013.