Housing Issues in the 109th Congress (CRS Report for Congress)
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| Release Date |
Revised Jan. 8, 2007 |
| Report Number |
RL32899 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
Bruce Foote, Libby Perl, and Maggie McCarty, Domestic Social Policy Division; and Eugene Boyd, N. Eric Weiss, and Pamela Jackson, Government and Finance Division |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
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Summary:
The 109th Congress considered a number of housing-related issues in its two sessions. These included appropriations for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD); assistance for families and communities affected by Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma; reform of the Government Sponsored EnterprisesâFannie Mae and Freddie Macâand Federal Home Loan Banks (GSEs and FHLBs); revisions to the FHA loan insurance program; and changes to existing housing programs such as the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher and the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program. However, the 109th Congress adjourned without completing action in many of these areas.
During the appropriations process for both FY2006 and FY2007, Congress faced possible cuts in various HUD programs. In FY2006, the President proposed to reduce the HUD budget by 9%, which included removing the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program from HUD. Congress did not make the majority of the reductions requested by the President. In FY2007, the President proposed to reduce funding to at least 13 HUD programs, while increasing funding for 11 others. In its proposed spending bills, the House and Senate Appropriations Committees restored many of the proposed cuts. However, at the end of calendar year 2006, Congress had not passed a budget bill for FY2007. Instead, it provided funding for HUD, among other agencies, through three continuing resolutions, the third of which expires on February 15, 2007. For most HUD programs, this means that funding continues at the FY2006 level.
Congress twice appropriated funds to HUD after the 2005 hurricanes. First, Congress provided $11.5 billion for the CDBG program to be used in affected areas (P.L. 109-148). This amount was divided among the states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, and Texas. The second appropriation (P.L. 109-234) provided $5.2 billion more to the CDBG program for hurricane recovery. In addition to these two allocations of CDBG funds, in P.L. 109-148 Congress provided $390 million in supplemental funding for Section 8 vouchers for families that had received HUD assistance before being displaced by Hurricane Katrina.
Other activities in the 109th Congress included consideration of two bills to strengthen oversight of the GSEs and FHLBs under one regulator (S. 190 and H.R. 1461). The House passed H.R. 1461 on October 26, 2005, while the Senate Banking and Urban Affairs Committee reported S. 190 to the Senate on July 28, 2005. Another bill (H.R. 5121) would have raised the FHA one-family mortgage limit, and allowed mortgage premiums based on the borrower's risk. In the area of affordable housing, the House Financial Services Committee considered and passed a number of housing bills, including H.R. 5443 to reform the Section 8 voucher program and H.R. 5347, a bill to reauthorize the HOPE VI program. Legislation was also introduced in the first session that would have increased Low-Income Housing Tax Credits available to develop affordable housing (H.R. 2681, H.R. 659, and H.R. 3159). However, none of the aforementioned bills was enacted before the close of the 109th Congress.
