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Update on National Housing Trust Fund Legislation

March 14, 2007 -- On March 9, Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) introduced H.R. 1427, a bill to reform oversight of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Home Loan Banks (the Government Sponsored Enterprises, or GSEs), and to establish an affordable housing fund. The fund would be financed by a portion of the GSEs’ portfolios rather than their profits, as was proposed in last year's House bill.  The fund’s first year would be devoted to Gulf Coast rebuilding. 

March 8, 2007 -- Legislation creating trust funds for affordable rental housing will be introduced soon in the House of Representatives.  The National Housing Trust Fund (NHTF) Campaign is gearing up for a major grassroots push to support a National Housing Trust Fund bill.  The Campaign’s goal is to create a dedicated source of federal funding to support the production and preservation of 1.5 million rental homes over 10 years, at least 75 percent of which will be affordable to extremely low-income families (those with incomes under 30 percent of median).

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Massachusetts), chair of the House Financial Services Committee, told the annual conference of the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) on February 26, 2007 that he plans to introduce two bills.

• In late March he will introduce a bill to reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, generally known as Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs).  Like H.R 1461, the House of Representatives’ GSE reform bill in the last Congress, this one would create an Affordable Housing Fund (AHF) that would use funds from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, estimated at around $500 million a year, to achieve several housing objectives including production of rental housing affordable for very low- and extremely low-income families.  The AHF would be targeted to the Gulf Coast for the first year.  Rep. Frank’s bill will not include the provisions added under pressure from conservative Republicans in the last Congress that would have prohibited any AHF funds going to nonprofit housing developers that engage in lawful, non-partisan voter activities.


• Rep. Frank will also introduce legislation to create a National Housing Trust Fund, which he envisions would eventually absorb the funds from the Affordable Housing Fund.  The NHTF bill will be separate, stand-alone legislation that closely reflects the legislative proposal of the National Housing Trust Fund Campaign [link]. Chairman Frank and the Campaign are working to assure bipartisan co-sponsorship of the bill.

The NHTF Campaign has been endorsed by more than 5,600 organizations and elected officials since it began in 2001. Expanding the number of endorsers is a Campaign priority.

The Campaign's legislative proposal is available here. For more information, visit http://www.nhtf.org or contact the NHTF Campaign’s Outreach Team at 202-662-1530 or outreach@nlihc.org.

Source for March 8 posting: National Low Income Housing Coalition Memo to Members newsletter, issues of March 2, February 16, and January 12, 2007

Posted: March 8, 2007
Updated: March 14, 2007