Federal Policy Project

Issues In Focus

• Appropriations
• Tax Reform
• National Housing Trust Fund
• Housing Preservation

2013 APPROPRIATIONS

The President's Budget Proposal is expected to be released on February 13. In this document he will present his budget priorities for the next fiscal year. To view documents related to the President's Budget, visit the Office of Management and Budget after February 13. Check this page for frequent updates on the FY 2013 budget.

2012 APPROPRIATIONS

On November 18, the President signed H2112 into law, providing for FY 2012 appropriations for HUD and USDA programs through September 30, 2012. The bill also included a continuing resolution for the other agencies through December 16, 2011.

Download a copy of CHPC’s FY 2012 Budget Chart that includes a historical snapshot of the housing related budgets by program.

TAX REFORM

From our friends at Affordable Rental Housing A.C.T.I.O.N. (A Call To Invest in Our Neighborhoods):

As the second session of the 112th Congress has gotten underway, members’ attention is now focused on extending the payroll tax holiday, unemployment benefits, and Medicare reimbursement rates provisions before they expire on February 29. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI-4) will be leading a conference committee tasked with negotiating a full-year extension of these provisions and others. The Broad Tax Extenders Group, a business-led coalition, is urging Congress to also consider providing extensions for the more than five dozen tax provisions which expired in 2011. It is unclear whether these extension measures will be included as part of the broader negotiations, due to a lack of agreement on whether the entire set of provisions should be extended and how to pay for the $35 billion cost associated with doing so.

Whether these expired provisions are included in the potential full-year extension legislation remains critical, as A.C.T.I.O.N. coalition members including CHPC and Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) continue to ask that a 9 percent minimum rate be applicable for all new construction and substantial rehabilitation Housing Credit allocations made before the end of 2013, as part of the tax extension legislation. Currently the temporary Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (HERA) provision can only be applied to projects placed in service through 2013.

The goal of the A.C.T.I.O.N. proposal legislation (H.R. 3661, S. 1989) is to make the temporary 9 percent minimum rate permanent and enact a 4 percent minimum rate for acquisition Housing Credits, thereby ensuring that many affordable housing developments receive the private equity capital needed for financial feasibility.

Looking ahead, Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) is expected to release a corporate tax reform proposal in the coming weeks. It is anticipated that it will promote reducing the corporate rate to 25 percent through the elimination and reduction of corporate tax expenditure programs – including, potentially, the Housing Credit. More details will be made available once the proposal is released.

Continue to contact your Members of Congress – especially those serving on the House Ways and Means Committee and Senate Finance Committee – and urge them to support and cosponsor the A.C.T.I.O.N. proposal legislation (H.R. 3661, S. 1989). Visit the updated A.C.T.I.O.N. Advocacy Toolkitto view the A.C.T.I.O.N. proposal legislation, find the Housing Credit fact sheet for your state, view tips on contacting your representatives, and more!

NATIONAL HOUSING TRUST FUND

Companion bills in the House and Senate were recently introduced to capitalize the National Housing Trust Fund. S. 489, introduced by Senator Jack Reed, and H.R. 1477 would provide $1 billion for the NHTF from the profits made on the sale of “warrants.” Senator Reed requested warrants be included in the Emergency Economic Stability Act of 2008, which established the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). So far, the sale of these warrants has yielded more than $8 billion. These proceeds are in addition to the loans made through TARP, and are seen as a way for the public to benefit from the U.S. bankrolling the recovery of financial institutions.

For more information about the National Housing Trust Fund:

National Low Income Housing Coalition

HUD

HOUSING PRESERVATION

Section 8 Voucher Reform

From our friends at the National Low Income Housing Coalition:

A revised draft of the voucher reform bill was released by Republican staff of the House Financial Services Committee on January 13. The new draft bill, now called the Affordable Housing and Self-Sufficiency Improvement Act (AHSSIA), will be taken up by the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Insurance, Housing and Community Opportunity February 7th. According to our sources on Capitol Hill, this could be one of the only affordable housing related bills to have a chance of passing Congress this year.

A reason to cheer is that the new bill includes important project-based voucher provisions sought by CHPC, NLIHC and many other national advocates. These include the ability to base the percentage of vouchers that could be project-based (20%) on the number of a PHA’s authorized vouchers rather than on a PHA’s authorized voucher funding. The draft bill would also allow for an additional 5% of an agency’s vouchers to be project-based to provide units that house individuals and families that are homeless, who are veterans, that provide supportive housing to persons with disabilities, or that are located in areas where vouchers are difficult to use. The bill would also allow for enhanced vouchers to be converted to project-based vouchers for the purposes of preserving affordable housing.

On the negative side for very low income tenants, the new bill would direct the HUD Secretary to set monthly minimum rents for public housing residents, voucher holders and project-based Section 8 tenants of not less than $69.45 and then would allow the Secretary to index this minimum rent floor to inflation. There is no upper limit to a minimum rent the Secretary could set. The draft language would allow PHAs to determine the actual minimum rent, presumably above the Secretary’s minimum rent. Project-based owners would also be able to set minimum rents above whatever minimum rent is set by the Secretary, with the Secretary’s approval. The previous draft authorized PHAs to set minimum rents to the greater of $75 or 12% of Fair Market Rent. This bill removes these provisions, replacing them with a floor minimum rent of $69.45 that could be increased by the PHA or private owner. As presented, NLIHC and CBPP would oppose the the new draft bill language on minimum rents.

Another concern in the new draft bill is that it incorporates Representative Gary Miller’s (R-CA) draft Moving to Work (MTW) Improvement, Expansion, and Permanency Act, which was also circulated in October. This legislation would allow the HUD Secretary to provide the broad flexibilities of the MTW demonstration to an unlimited number of public housing agencies and make MTW permanent. Note that San Diego City HA is an MTW. While there are some good things about MTW in allowing flexibility to cash-strapped PHAs, NLIHC and CBPP have long opposed MTW expansion because the existing program has not been evaluated, does not require deep income targeting, does not require that rents be affordable under the Brooke standard to each household, and allows for the blending of public housing and voucher funds such that fewer households are or will be served. CHPC is hopeful that a compromise agreement on Moving to Work can be reached, so that the bill can be supported by a broader range of housing advocates.

AHSSIA Resources:

Draft bill
One-page summary provided by the Subcommittee staff
Section-by-section summary provided by the Subcommittee staff

Affordable Housing Preservation and Revitalization Act

In February, Senator Ron Wyden introduced S. 317, the Affordable Housing Preservation and Revitalization Act. The primary aim of S. 317 is to provide incentives for the sale of multifamily housing properties with expiring HAP contracts to qualified preservation owners that are committed to maintaining the affordability and preservation of affordable properties through improved access to residual receipts to aid in the acquisition and rehabilitation of the property.