Senators reintroduce Housing Voucher Mobility Demonstration legislation
A group of bipartisan Senators reintroduced legislation to incentivize greater choice and mobility in HUD’s Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program. Introduced by Senator Young (R-IN), Van Hollen (D-MD), Rubio (R-FL), Klobuchar (D-MN), Blunt (R-MO), and Hassan (D-NH), the “Housing Choice Voucher Mobility Demonstration Act” (S. 291) would authorize a demonstration program to help voucher holders meet their mobility goals.
“Families in Indiana and throughout America deserve the chance to live in the neighborhoods that best suit their needs, which may include access to more affordable housing, better education, transportation, or lower-crime,” said Senator Young. “Our legislation will help ensure the Housing Choice Voucher Program better serves families who need to relocate to areas with greater opportunity.”
Similar to legislation introduced last Congress, the demonstration program would require public housing authorities (PHAs) to submit a regional housing mobility plan detailing how the proposed group will assist families in moving to higher opportunity areas. According to Senator Young’s press release, the bill would authorize HUD to award demonstration program funds on a competitive basis and prioritize regional collaborations among PHAs that have high concentrations of voucher holders in low-opportunity neighborhoods and an adequate number of moderately-priced rental units in higher-opportunity areas, an existing high-performing Family Self Sufficiency program, or a strong regional collaboration including one or more small housing agencies, among other factors.
Five years after implementation of the demonstration program, HUD would submit a report evaluating the effectiveness of the program to help identify the most cost-effective methods to increase voucher mobility. NAHMA will keep members up-to-date on the legislation.
Key Senator outlines housing finance reform goals, Committee agenda
Senate Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo (R-ID) recently released an outline for housing finance reform legislation. Similar to other recent congressional proposals, Senator Crapo’s plan would remove Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the GSEs) from conservatorship, making them mortgage guarantors in the private sector, instead. The GSEs have been in conservatorship since the financial crisis.
The guarantors would be required to provide equal access to all originators, regardless of their size or loan volume. The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) would regulate them and would also be restructured to be run by a board of directors (as opposed to the current single director structure).
“We must expeditiously fix our flawed housing finance system,” said Chairman Crapo in an accompanying statement. “My priorities are to establish stronger levels of taxpayer protection, preserve the 30-year fixed rate mortgage, increase competition among mortgage guarantors, and promote access to affordable housing.
Under the Chairman’s plan, the current affordable housing goals and duty-to-serve requirements would be replaced by a “Market Access Fund,” which would provide grants, loans, and credit enhancement to help address homeownership and rental housing needs in underserved and low-income communities. The Market Access Fund, the Housing Trust Fund and the Capital Magnet Fund would be collectively funded through an annual assessment of 10.0 basis points of the total loan volume guaranteed by each entity. No further details on the new Market Access Fund were provided in the plan.
Separately, the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee Chairman also outlined his Committee agenda for the 116th Congress, including housing as a key priority. In addition to the housing finance reform goals outlined above, the Committee will work to identify opportunities to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of HUD programs, and will consider updates to Title VI of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). To read the Committee agenda, please click here.