Under the Baucus plan, new Web-based insurance exchanges would be established to allow consumers to shop for and compare insurance plans. The package would also expand Medicaid and place caps on patients' annual health care costs. It would be paid for with $349 billion in new taxes and fees and $507 billion in cuts to government health programs.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates the cost of the bill at $774 billion over 10 years while Baucus puts the cost at $856 billion. The Senate Finance Committee is tentatively scheduled to start marking up the bill next Tuesday.

As President Obama pushes for legislation to overhaul the health care system, details are still being negotiated in Congress. Any final health care bill would have to meld proposals from those that have emerged from various House and Senate committees.

To view a comparison of the health care bills taking shape in the House and Senate, click here.

For more information, contact Jenna Hamilton at 1-800-368-5242, ext. 8407.

Of interest to NAHB members are funding levels for some key federal programs, including:

Section 8 tenant-based housing vouchers: $18.1 billion, an increase over the $16.9 billion appropriated in fiscal 2009. The Appropriations Committee noted concerns of lawmakers that the program funding may not be sufficient to meet the actual renewal needs of the program, given the difficulty of making projections based on need during a recession. 

Section 8 project-based housing vouchers: The Senate supports a total of $8.1 billion in funding for project-based rental assistance, $1.4 billion less than funding provided in fiscal 2009. Congress had included $2 billion in emergency funding in the stimulus bill approved earlier this year.

HOPE VI: The Senate voted not to fund HOPE VI projects in  fiscal 2010. While lawmakers noted that they support the goal of the HOPE VI program, they have chosen instead to allocate $250 million to a new proposal by the President for the “Choice Neighborhoods Initiative,” which they say “builds on the successes of HOPE VI and extends the program to other HUD-assisted housing.”

HOME Investment Partnerships Program:  The Senate would provide $1.825 billion for HOME, about $2 billion less than the amount appropriated for fiscal 2009. (The additional $2 billion in fiscal 2009 was for emergency funding.)

Office of Rural Housing and Economic Development (RHED): The Senate would provide no funding for RHED as a stand-alone program, choosing instead to fund it within the Community Development Fund as a new “Rural Innovation Fund.”

Community Development Block Grants (CDBG):  The Senate would allocate $3.99 billion for CDBG, a small increase over the non-emergency CDBG funding in fiscal 2009, and all funding would be allocated under the existing formula.

Sustainable Communities Initiative:  The Senate has approved funding of $150 million for this program, which will support an interagency collaboration among HUD, the Department of Transportation and the Environmental Protection Agency that will provide regional, state and local grants to “support and enhance the creation of sustainable and livable communities.” Senators believe it will help communities to “coordinate the housing, transportation and water infrastructure resources that support smart community development.”

Community Development Loan Guarantees Program (Section 108 Loan Guarantees): The Senate would provide a funding level of $275 million, equal to the funding level provided in fiscal 2009.

Brownfields Redevelopment: The Senate bill would not fund the Brownfields Redevelopment program, arguing that the objectives of this program are met within other programs supported by the federal government.

Housing Counseling Assistance: The Senate would provide $100 million for Housing Counseling, $35 million more than the amount appropriated in fiscal 2009, noting the need to help home owners vulnerable to mortgage rescue scams.  In its discussion on housing counseling, the Senate also notes concerns with a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report issued in June 2009 that evaluated the delivery of Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) counseling services and found that HECM counseling was often “inadequate and incomplete.”  The Senate urges HUD to review its oversight and controls over the HECM counseling component of its mission.

Policy Development and Research: The Senate supports a $48 million funding level for PD&R, a decrease of $10 million compared to fiscal 2009 funding levels, noting that the chamber would provide increased resources to support data collection and research in other accounts at the Department of Housing and Urban Development.  The Senate urged HUD to use its research funding to gather data that will track trends in the housing market, and enhance its regional data.  The Senate also ask HUD to collect data on “how other areas of the economy are affecting credit markets, access to credit for prospective home buyers and how deterioration in the credit markets affect homeownership, foreclosure rates, and the housing market overall.”

Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control:  The Senate would provide $140 million for lead-based paint hazard reduction and abatement, allowing HUD to use up to $20 million of those funds for the Healthy Homes Initiative.

Green Building and Green Jobs: The Senate notes in several areas of the bill that it hopes that as “HUD seeks to define the projects that it will fund, the Committee urges the Department to prioritize investments in green buildings and energy efficient technologies.  Furthermore, the Committee encourages the Secretary to consider grantees that have demonstrated experience in  creating green, affordable housing and redeveloping distressed neighborhoods…..the Committee expects HUD to promotes grantees that successfully integrate green jobs training into projects with an emphasis on providing training and job opportunities to public housing and community residents.”

For more information, contact Jenna Hamilton at ext. 8407. [return to top]

The first bill, H.R. 3146, the 21st Century FHA Housing Act of 2009, would help to modernize the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) by providing much-needed resources to improve FHA’s ability to insure safe and affordable mortgage products for millions of Americans.  With FHA’s market share increasing dramatically in the last two years, the infrastructure has not kept up.  H.R. 3146 would provide the authority and funding needed for the FHA to hire qualified staff and to upgrade decades-old technology systems in addition to providing a number of legislative tweaks to allow the FHA to fully operationalize its mortgage insurance programs.

The second bill, H.R. 3527, the FHA Multifamily Loan Limit Adjustment Act of 2009, would allow the HUD Secretary to increase the mortgage loan limits for elevator building by up to 50 percent of the amounts specified for non-elevator units.  The bill would  also give the HUD Secretary the authority to designate other “extremely high cost areas” in addition to Alaska, Hawaii, Guam and the Virgin Islands.  In short, H.R. 3527 addresses the fact that current FHA multifamily loan limits are severely restricting the ability to use FHA insurance programs to finance rental housing in many urban areas.

NAHB will continue to support these two important housing bills as they make their way through the legislative process in the coming months.

To view the legislation, click here and type the bill number in the box in the upper center screen. For additional information, contact Scott Meyer at ext. 8144. [return to top]