Catholic Charities USA Action Alert 10/26/09

ACTION NEEDED

Cosponsors Needed To Get $1 Billion for National Housing Trust Fund

Please call your elected officials in Congress today and ask them to cosponsor bills providing $1 billion for the National Housing Trust Fund (NHTF).

• Ask your Representative in the House to cosponsor H.R. 3766, the “Main Street TARP Act,” introduced by Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA).
• Ask both of your Senators to cosponsor S. 1731, the “Preserving Homes and Communities Act,” introduced by Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI).

Congressional offices can be reached through the U.S. Capitol switchboard at 1- 877-210-5351. Ask to be connected to your Senators and Representative then ask to speak to their housing staff.

BACKGROUND

The NHTF, when funded, will develop new housing stock and preserve or rehabilitee existing housing to create affordable options for extremely low income people.

In his FY10 budget proposal, President Obama called for $1 billion in funding for the NHTF, and proposed that it come from the mandatory side of the budget. In its FY10 budget resolution, Congress determined the expenditure would be subject to “pay-go,” which means it would have to be offset or paid for from another source.

Both H.R. 3766 and S. 1731 would provide direct funding to pay for the NHTF without creating any additional federal costs:

• H.R. 3766 would, transfer $1 billion to the trust fund from funds yet to be tapped in Troubled Asset Relief Program. It would limit rents paid by tenants in NHTF-assisted homes to 30 percent of their adjusted income.
• S. 1731 would, transfer $1 billion to the NHTF from the sale of warrants that were required under the TARP. When the U.S. Treasury funded financial institutions under TARP, it obtained warrants to purchase stock from these institutions at a set price over a set period of time. Treasury then sells these rights to investors and this produces revenue for the federal government. As of August 31, sale of warrants brought in $2.9 billion.