House Passes Continuing Resolution, Senate to Vote Next Week
This week, the House passed a continuing resolution to keep the government funded past September 30, averting a government shutdown. The Senate voted on Thursday to begin debate on the funding bill next week. The continuing resolution will fund government agencies up to December 11, when a new spending bill will have to get approved. While providing funding at current levels, the continuing resolution did provide an additional $7 million in programmatic funding for the Section 202 Housing for the Elderly account to extend the Integrated Wellness in Supportive Housing (IWISH) Demonstration for one additional year. The Senate is now expected to vote on the stopgap spending bill early next week.
FED Chairmen and Treasury Secretary Testify Before Congress
Twice this week, the heads of the Federal Reserve and Treasury Department appeared before Congress as negotiations for a new COVID-19 relief bill made little progress. Appearing before the House Financial Service Committee and the Senate Banking Committee, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin credited the Cares Act with helping to build the recovery and called on Congress to fill the economy’s remaining holes is not triggering action on Capitol Hill.
Of increasing concern is whether hundreds of billions of dollars in unused Cares Act money should be reallocated, or if existing programs can be expanded to reach more businesses and municipalities on the brink. At the House Financial Services Committee hearing on Tuesday, Chairman Powell and Secretary Mnuchin said the lending programs run by the Fed and Treasury could only go so far and could not replace targeted aid from Congress.
Secreatry Mnuchin and Chairman Powell also appeared before the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday and urged Senators to reauthorize the Paycheck Protection Program so that the remaining $130 billion could be used to make additional loans to struggling small businesses. Both also agreed that additional, targeted fiscal support would likely be needed to mitigate the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on individuals and businesses.
To view the House Financial Services Committee Hearing on Oversight of the Treasury Department’s and Federal Reserve’s Pandemic Response, click here.
To view the Senate Banking Committee Hearing on the Quarterly CARES Act Report to Congress, click here.
Federal Reserve Releases Community Reinvestment Act Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
The Federal Reserve Board of Governors (Federal Reserve) today released a draft Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) on Community Reinvestment Act reform. The ANPR was unanimously approved by the Board of Governors this week with the caveat that some technical changes may be made prior to publishing it in the Federal Register, after which stakeholders will have 120 days to comment.
NAHMA and many affordable housing industry partners continues to advocate that any changes to CRA must preserve the incentive it provides for investment in the LIHTC market and affordable housing production market, more broadly.
To view the draft Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Community Reinvestment Act reform, click here.