Posted by:
Steve Dubb
HR 2895 passes on a 264-148 floor vote.
The legislation aims to establish dedicated sources of funding for the production, preservation and rehabilitation of 1.5 million affordable homes in 10 years and now faces consideration by the Senate. According to the bill’s terms, at least 75% of the funds will be for housing for households that are extremely low income, earning less than 30% of an area’s median income.
As the National Low Income Housing Coalition notes in its press release:
“The House has already passed two sources of funding for the National Affordable Housing Trust Fund, which the Congressional Budget Office estimates have a combined value of $800 million to $1 billion a year. The first pot of money comes from funds from the Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSE) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The second source of funds comes from expansion of the Federal Housing Administration’s (FHA) home equity conversion mortgage (HECM) product. To reach the goal of 1.5 million units in 10 years, other dedicated sources of funding will have to be added, which the bill allows. The National Affordable Housing Trust Fund bill gets the best minds working on any number of creative ways to direct additional revenue into the fund.”
Days after the vote, the New York Times editorial page reiterated its support for the bill. David Broder of the Washington Post makes an even stronger case for passage in his column, noting that the bill had received the endorsement of both the National Association of Realtors and the National Association of Home Builders and pointing out the extent of America’s affordable housing shortage: as of 2005, 16.9 million American households had to spend more than half of their incomes on housing.
The prospects of the final legislation, however, remain uncertain. Although the bill received a considerable number of Republican votes, the margin of passage in the House falls shy of the two-thirds majority that would be needed to override a presidential veto. President Bush reiterated his veto threat, just one day before the House vote.