New NAHMA Public Policy Position
NAHMA will support extending OMHAR, which sunsets at the end of September 2004, to match the sunset authority for mortgage restructuring in late 2006.
Appropriations
Congress did not finish its work on the annual spending bills prior to leaving town for Thanksgiving. The House and Senate will return on December 8 and 9, respectively, in hopes of completing these bills. For now, the government continues to operate on another continuing resolution (CR), which lasts thorough January 31, 2004.
House and Senate negotiators reached an agreement on the 2004 omnibus appropriations bill. Using the Agriculture Appropriations bill (HR 2673) as the vehicle, the conference report also includes: the VA-HUD bill; the Commerce-Justice-State bill; appropriations for the District of Columbia; annual funds for foreign operations; the Labor-Health and Human Services-Education bill; and the Transportation-Treasury bill.
Despite the agreement by conferees, passage of the omnibus is by no means a given. This morning, Associated Press reporter Alan Fram wrote in his article, “GOP Hopes to Pass Massive Spending Bill,”
“Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, who sometimes got upset with the White House during weeks of bargaining, told reporters that because of the administration-engineered changes, he feared the bill might not pass when votes finally occur – particularly if opponents use procedural delays that take 60 votes to halt. He said as a “last gasp,” negotiators might even have to resume bargaining.”
The legislative language and the statement of the conferees will soon be available on the Internet. The best information available at the time of this writing comes from press releases issued by the House and Senate Appropriations Committees. Publicly available information about this bill follows.
The House Appropriations Committee press release noted:
- The bill includes $328.1 billion in discretionary spending and $820 billion in total spending including mandatory funds.
- All programs, except for Defense and Military Construction, are subject to an across the board reduction of .59%. This reduction, coupled with rescissions from last year’s bills, will help pay for additional funds directed to the Millennium Challenge Corporation, Election Reform, Veteran’s Medical Care, education programs and security expenses at the national political party conventions.
- “HUD is funded at $37 billion, $942 million above last year’s levels and $98 million above the President’s request.” (In contrast, the Senate Appropriations Committee press release states HUD received “overall funding of $36.086 billion, an increase of $157.6 million over the budget request and $877 million over the FY 2002 level.”)
- “The Housing Certificate Fund is funded at $19.4 billion, a $1.3 billion increase over FY03, a 7% increase over last year.” (The Senate Appropriations Committee press release also lists $19,4 billion in HCF funds, and adds that the conferees rejected the President’s proposed Section 8 HANF block grant.)
- “Includes $12.1 billion for Section 8 voucher renewals, $810 million more than FY03 and $205 million more than the request. This will fully fund all authorized vouchers based on a 96% lease up rate and the most current cost estimates.”
- “HOME Investments Partnerships is funded at $2.064 billion, $77 million over FY03, including a $25 million increase for HOME formula grants. Provides $125 million for the President’s Downpayment Assistance Initiative.” (Once again, the Senate Appropriations Committee press release differs, noting, “HOME is funded at $2 billion and includes $87.5 million for the American Dream Downpayment fund and $40 million for housing counseling.”
- “Housing for the nation’s elderly (Section 202) is funded at $778 million, $5 million over the request.”
- “Disabled Housing (Section 811) is funded at the requested level of $250 million.”
The Senate Appropriations Committee press release on the USDA portion of the omnibus stated,
- $115.1 million is available for Section 515.
- $100 million is provided for Section 538 multi-family housing guaranteed loans.
- Rural Rental Assistance was funded at $584 million, and “The conference agreement reduces the length of rental assistance contracts from five to four years.”
Homeownership
The Senate passed the American Dream Downpayment Act (S 811). The bill authorizes a $200 million set-aside in the HOME program for downpayment assistance. Also included is a NAHMA-endorsed amendment to increase the FHA multifamily loan limits in high-cost areas.
Other Legislation of Interest
Flood Insurance
The National Flood Insurance Program Reauthorization Act (S 1768) has been approved by Congress, and has been sent to the President.
Medicare
Congress passed landmark legislation (HR 1) to overhaul the Medicare program this week. The highlight of the bill adds a prescription drug benefit to Medicare. A 10-page summary of the bill is available on the House Ways and Means Committee website at
https://waysandmeans.house.gov/media/pdf/healthdocs/confagreement.pdf.
Identity Theft Legislation
The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (HR 2622) was cleared for the President’s signature. A summary of the bill is available on the House Financial Services Committee website at
https://financialservices.house.gov/News.asp?FormMode=release&ID=428.
