Congress is back from its August recess, but much like the DC Beltway during rush hour, there is gridlock as far as the eye can see. The Senate continues its contentious debate on the bill to create a new Department of Homeland Security. The House is deadlocked on the yearly spending bills (i.e. appropriations bills).
To make matters worse, the end of the fiscal year is approaching. If legislation is not passed and signed into law to provide funding for the government–either by the 13 individual appropriations bills or by a continuing resolution–the government will shut down on October 1.
The problem is that nobody can agree on how much these spending bills should cost. The Democratic Senate leadership does not agree with the Republican House leadership or the President, and the House leadership does not agree with the House Appropriations Committee. In the House, the appropriations process has come almost to a complete stop. Responding to a Congresswoman’s question, House Majority Leader Dick Armey replied, “We wait upon the circumstances that allow us to bring our appropriations bills to the floor in a manner that is consistent with the budget passed by the House. We know this is a difficult circumstance for the House, in light of the fact that the other body [the Senate] has not passed a budget whatsoever and is seeking to spend anywhere from $9 billion to $19 billion beyond the President’s request and the House budget. So we continue to work on these difficult problems.”
Several other important bills related to multi-family housing remain to be considered before this session of Congress ends. Rumors abound that the Housing Affordability for America Act (HR 3995) will be considered by the House by mid-September. This legislation seeks to offer new homeownership and affordable rental opportunities to low income Americans. However, this seems increasingly unlikely. Outstanding time-sensitive matters such as the appropriations bills and a possible resolution of force against Iraq may very well consume the remaining time in this session of Congress.
In my opinion, the only housing legislation that has a chance of passage is what makes it onto the VA-HUD appropriations bill. And the only housing legislation that will be included in the spending bills will be non-controversial.
Another bill of interest to NAHMA is the Bankruptcy Reform bill. The final bill, which reconciles the differences between the House and Senate versions, includes important measures which prevent dangerous and / or drug abusing tenants from gaming bankruptcy laws to avoid eviction. Unfortunately, it also includes a controversial rider limiting bankruptcy relief for abortion clinic protestors. Based on comments by House Majority Leader Dick Armey, prospects for passage are dim. Just yesterday, Armey noted the abortion rider put pro-life members who support bankruptcy reform in a position where it is difficult “to reconcile their conflicts.” If these folks can’t be satisfied, the bill essentially has no chance of being considered. The problem is conference reports are not allowed to be changed or amended. New legislation would be required. NAHMA recently signed onto an industry letter which urged House members to support the final bankruptcy bill.