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Affordable Housing Trust Fund Bill Introduced in House
Introduction of a bill on June 28 by House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) to establish a National Housing Trust Fund for the creation of affordable housing opportunities for low-income people has received the support of the nation’s home builders.
“NAHB’s members are acutely aware of the significant and urgent unmet housing needs throughout the country, and welcome your initiative to marshal additional resources to improve housing opportunities and conditions in America’s communities,” Joseph Stanton, the association’s senior staff vice president for government affairs, wrote to Frank.
“In conjunction with efforts to revitalize the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), we believe the National Affordable Housing Trust Fund can greatly improve housing opportunities for those that need it most.”
Co-sponsored by Reps. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), Gary Miller (R-Calif.), John McHugh (R-N.Y.) and Jim Ramstad (R-Minn.), the bi-partisan National Affordable Housing Trust Fund Act of 2007, H.R. 2895, aims to use the trust fund to produce, rehabilitate and preserve 1.5 million units of affordable housing over the next 10 years.
Stanton told Frank that NAHB is interested in working with him to ensure the legislation has:
- Income targeting requirements that allow grantees and grant recipients to meet the fullest range of critical housing needs
- Affordable housing stipulations that allow effective and efficient use of trust fund monies in conjunction with other federal and state housing programs
- Appropriate comprehensive definitions of eligible activities
- Adequate standards of experience and capacity for grant recipients, along with results-focused allocation criteria, to ensure the best possible use of this valuable resource
Along with legislation to revitalize the FHA, Stanton said that the National Housing Trust Fund bill is “a key opportunity to address the issue of affordable housing.”
To read the legislation, click here and enter H.R. 2895 ini the box at the center of the page.
For more information, e-mail Scott Meyer at NAHB, or call him at 800-368-5242 x8144.
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