NCSHA Washington Report | September 24, 2021

The seeds of innovation in state housing finance were planted a century ago, in California, with the passage of a state law to “provide veterans with the opportunity to acquire farms and homes.” Celebrating its centennial last month, the CalVet Home Loan Program announced it had funded $8.5 billion in mortgages for 425,000 California veterans.

California was several decades ahead of its time. Housing finance was an almost entirely federal concern from the Great Depression until 1959, when Pennsylvania state legislators, seeing “a need for both state financing and creation of incentives for private industry to enter the low- and moderate-income housing field,” passed the first state housing finance agency statute.

New York became the first to actually operationalize the innovation the following year by issuing bonds to finance affordable apartments through the New York State Housing Finance Agency. The rest, as they say, is history — a history NCSHA will celebrate during our 50th annual conference next week.

Our plan was to do it in Detroit, where the 18 state HFAs in existence in 1972 had their first annual meeting in January of that year, keynoted by HUD Undersecretary Richard Van Dusen. While the pandemic forced us to pivot to a virtual gathering this time, next week will still afford an opportunity to take stock of the state HFA story so far.

It’s a remarkable history of resilience and adaptation. One that has seen state HFAs heralded as the next big thing, dismissed as minor players, confronted with existential economic and political threats, entrusted by Congress with ever more responsibilities, and forced more than once to reinvent themselves to remain relevant. Today, state HFAs are stronger, smarter, and more central to the affordable housing system in the U.S. than ever.

How that happened and what it has meant hasn’t been fully told, so starting next week, through a series of projects that conference participants will see first, we’ll tell some it.

We’ll also assess the enormous responsibilities state HFAs are shouldering today and for the future: deepening housing instability for millions of low-income renters, worsening racial gaps in housing opportunity, widening shortages of new affordable homes and apartments, worrisome threats to the longtime affordability of the existing affordable inventory, more frequent and severe natural disasters. The list, as they say, goes on.

The first home funded by the CalVet Home Loan program, a 1,200-square-foot bungalow that sold for $4,120 in 1922 to a disabled World War I vet, apparently is still standing. When the time comes for state HFAs to mark another 50 years of collaboration, my money is that they will be, too.

Stockton Williams | Executive Director 

Washington Report will return October 8.

State HFA Emergency Housing Assistance

In This Issue

• • NCSHA Presses Congress for Affordable Housing Priorities in Reconciliation Bill; Timing on Advancing Legislation Remains Uncertain
  • House Passes Stopgap Funding Bill
  • OCC Formally Withdraws Previous CRA Rule
  • Warner Introduces Bill to Help New Home Buyers Build Wealth
  • Wyden Formally Introduces DASH Act
  • Fudge Announces Launch of White House Initiative to Tackle Homelessness
  • HUD Issues $143 Million in Grants to Support Housing for Very Low-Income Seniors
  • Bipartisan Policy Center Announces Terwilliger-Backed Housing Effort
  • Looking Ahead

NCSHA Presses Congress for Affordable Housing Priorities in Reconciliation Bill; Timing on Advancing Legislation Remains Uncertain
This week, NCSHA sent a letter to congressional leadership underscoring our support for the affordable housing provisions in the House Financial Services Committee- and House Ways and Means Committee-reported reconciliation bills and urging leadership to maintain these provisions as they finalize a consolidated bill and to keep funding at levels as close as possible to the amounts provided in the committees’ bills. NCSHA also joined ACTION Campaign Steering Committee members in a letter to Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY), House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR), and Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal (D-MA) in support of the Housing Credit production provisions in the Ways and Means bill. Additionally, NCSHA led a sign-on letter from Housing Credit preservation advocates to Schumer and Wyden in support of the Housing Credit qualified contract and nonprofit right of first refusal provisions in the legislation.

While the two House committees have finished their work on the bills, it is not clear when the House will advance a consolidated bill, as leadership balances competing demands from progressive and moderate Democrats. House progressives want the reconciliation bill at the $3.5 trillion level allowed by the Budget Resolution to move alongside the bipartisan infrastructure bill the Senate passed in August and which Pelosi committed to bring to a vote by September 27. House moderates are concerned about voting for the reconciliation bill at the $3.5 billion level, especially if the topline number is later reduced during Senate consideration, and want the Speaker to stick to her commitment to vote on the bipartisan bill by September 27 regardless of whether the reconciliation bill is ready at that point. Meanwhile, Senate leaders are under pressure from party moderates to reduce the spending levels in the reconciliation bill substantially and not to rush consideration of the legislation.

House Passes Stopgap Funding Bill
The House of Representatives on Tuesday passed a continuing resolution that would fund the federal government through December 3. The legislation is intended to serve as stopgap to keep the federal government running past the September 30 end of fiscal year (FY) 2021 while Congress works to approve its FY 2022 appropriations bills. The continuing resolution would largely fund all agencies and programs at a prorated portion of their FY 2021 funding levels, extend the federal government’s debt limit until the end of 2022, and provide an additional $35 billion appropriated to assist disaster victims and refugees from Afghanistan. The Senate is expected to consider the legislation on Monday, though it is unlikely in its current form to get the 60 votes needed for passage, and most Senate Republicans have made it clear they will not vote for a bill that extends the debt limit.

OCC Formally Withdraws Previous CRA Rule
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) on Tuesday issued a notice of proposed rulemaking that would formally rescind its May 2020 rule overhauling its Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) regulations. OCC first announced in July that it would rescind the rule, after initially suspending its implementation in May 2021. NCSHA and other housing and community advocates were deeply concerned that OCC’s 2020 CRA reforms would likely reduce bank demand for key housing investments, including Housing Credits and Housing Bonds. OCC proposes to reinstate its previous CRA requirements, enacted in 1995, while it works with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Federal Reserve System to develop new, common CRA standards. OCC will accept public comments on its proposed rule until October 29. Please send any feedback you would like NCSHA to consider for our comments to Greg Zagorski by October 15.

Warner Introduces Bill to Help New Home Buyers Build Wealth
Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) on Wednesday introduced the Low-Income First-Time Homebuyers Act (LIFT Act), which would set up a new program to help Federal Housing Administration (FHA) borrowers afford 20-year mortgages. Under the bill, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)  would work with Treasury to establish a program via which eligible borrowers could qualify for 20-year mortgages with low-interest rates calibrated to allow the home buyers to make nearly the same monthly payments as they would with traditional FHA-backed 30-year loans. The purpose is to enable working families to increase their wealth by more quickly building up equity in their homes. The bill is cosponsored by Senators Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Jon Ossoff (D-GA), and Tim Kaine (D-VA). Warner, Van Hollen, Warnock, and Ossoff are all members of the Senate Banking Committee. Warner also released a two-page summary of the bill.

Wyden Formally Introduces DASH Act
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR) formally introduced the Decent, Affordable, Safe Housing for All (DASH) Act (S. 2820) on September 23, which would make substantial investments in affordable housing, addressing both supply and demand needs through the tax code and direct spending programs. This comprehensive bill seeks to ensure all families with children experiencing homelessness are able to receive a voucher within the next five years; expands health, childcare, financial, and nutrition services for families and individuals; increases the production of affordable housing; and invests in homeownership in underserved communities. The bill includes many of NCSHA’s top priorities including new resources for the Housing Credit and the creation of the Neighborhood Homes Credit. For more information, see NCSHA’s blog, published in August when Wyden first released the legislative text of the bill in advance of its formal introduction. 

Fudge Announces Launch of White House Initiative to Tackle Homelessness
On September 20, HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge, chair of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH), announced the launch of the Biden Administration’s initiative House America: All-Hands-On-Deck Effort to Address the Nation’s Homelessness Crisis, a new national partnership in which HUD and the USICH invite state, tribal, and local leaders to leverage American Rescue Plan funds and other federal resources to develop 20,000 affordable housing units and provide permanent housing to at least 100,000 persons experiencing homelessness.

HUD Issues $143 Million in Grants to Support Housing for Very Low-Income Seniors
HUD’s Office of Multifamily Housing Programs announced Wednesday it has awarded $143 million to 25 nonprofit organizations operating in 21 states across the country. The grants, awarded under HUD’s Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly program, will be used to construct and operate 1,484 new rent-assisted multifamily units for low- and very low-income seniors. The Section 202 program is designed to allow people aged 62 and older to live independently in an environment with support services available when needed. The list of grantees and their awards is available here.

Bipartisan Policy Center Announces Terwilliger-Backed Housing Effort
The Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) this week announced a $10 million contribution from real estate executive and longtime housing philanthropist Ron Terwilliger to launch the organization’s first policy center. The BPC housing center will “advance bipartisan solutions that will help transform housing into a source of comfort and stability for millions of our neighbors and friends,” according to Terwilliger. NCSHA was among the national organizations that commended BPC and Terwilliger and looks forward to working with the center and executive director Dennis Shea.

Looking Ahead…

Legislative and Regulatory Activities

• September 28 | USDA Meeting on Housing Resources for Rural America, including the Emergency Rental Assistance Program | Virtual
  Stockton Williams and Jennifer Schwartz will speak at this event.
• September 28 | FHFA Listening Session on Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s Equitable Housing Finance Plans
• October 11 | Comments Due to NCSHA | FHFA Request for Input on Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s Equitable Finance Plans
• October 11 | Comments Due to NCSHA | FHFA Proposed Affordable Housing Goals for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
• October 15 | Comments Due to NCSHA | OCC Proposed Rule on the Community Reinvestment Act
• October 25 | Comments Due | FHFA Request for Input on Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s Equitable Finance Plans
• October 25 | Comments Due | FHFA Proposed Affordable Housing Goals for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
• October 29 | Comments Due | OCC Proposed Rule on the Community Reinvestment Act
• November 16 | Application Deadline | FR-6500-N-25, Notice of Funding Opportunity FY 2021 Continuum of Care Competition

NCSHA, State HFA, and Industry Events

• September 20 – October 8 | Up for Growth 2021 Virtual Summit for Housing Changemakers | Virtual
• September 26 – 29 | NCSHA’s 50^th Annual Conference
• September 30 | Bipartisan Policy Center Discussion on Meeting Rural America’s Housing Needs: A Conversation with Sens. Smith and Rounds | Virtual
• October 4 ‒ 6 | The 28th Annual Washington State Affordable Housing Conference | Virtual
  Garth Rieman will speak at this event.
• October 5 – 6 | Housing Washington Conference | Virtual
• October 19 – 22 | National Affordable Housing Management Association’s Fall Conference | Virtual
  Jennifer Schwartz is speaking at this event.
• October 20 – 21 | 2021 Maine Affordable Housing Conference | Virtual
  Stockton Williams will speak at this event.
• November 9 | Manufactured Housing Institute NCC Fall Leadership Forum | Chicago
  Jennifer Schwartz will speak at this event.
• November 9 | ProLink Solutions Annual User Conference | Virtual
  Jennifer Schwartz will speak at this event.

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