The National Housing Trust Fund (NHTF) Campaign has issued a response to the Statement of Administration Policy (SAP) issued on October 9 by the Executive Office of the President. The SAP opposed enactment of H.R. 2895, the National Affordable Housing Trust Fund Act of 2007.
The Administration made several arguments against the national affordable housing trust fund in the SAP, which also includes a recommendation from senior advisors that the president veto H.R. 2895.
The first is that a National Housing Trust Fund is redundant of the HOME Investment Partnership Program. The NHTF Campaign response is that there are number of important differences between the national affordable housing trust fund and HOME, including the lack of deep targeting in the HOME program that is provided in the trust fund bill.
The Administration opposes the spending of Federal Housing Administration (FHA) receipts for the trust fund, one of two funding sources for the trust fund passed by the House of Representatives. The funds would come from expansion of the FHA's home equity conversion mortgage (HECM) product.
The NHTF Campaign argues that the FHA bill, H.R. 1852, the Expanding American Homeownership Act of 2007, generates considerable new revenue for the general Treasury, and the FHA measure ensures that the funds will be used to benefit a number of housing and housing-related purposes, including a national housing trust fund.
The second funding source for the trust fund would come from H.R. 1427, the Federal Housing Financial Reform Act of 2007. This bill reserves funds from Government Sponsored Enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as a dedicated source of funding for the trust fund. The Administration says that it opposes funds from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac being used for the trust fund. This argument is inconsistent with their position that they will accept an affordable housing fund as part of the GSE regulatory reform legislation.
The SAP expresses concern that the trust fund will be susceptible to political influences that would harm the goals of the fund. However, the legislation includes specific language that prohibits any funds being used for political activities and gives HUD authority to impose penalties on grantees that violate these provisions of the law.
The response to the SAP can be found here: www.nlihc.org/doc/Response-To-Administration-SAP.pdf.
Information about the National Housing Trust Fund Campaign can be found at: www.nhtf.org.
