Washington Update - 06/13/2006 (Plain Text Version)

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Bipartisan Storm Water Legislation Introduced in House

With a strong lobbying push from NAHB, Rep. Jimmy Duncan (R-TN) and 16 bipartisan cosponsors on June 8 introduced H.R. 5558, the “Stormwater Enforcement and Permitting Act.” NAHB has been working with lawmakers for the past several weeks to launch this important legislative initiative, which would update and improve the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) storm water regulations and permitting process for storm water run-off from residential construction sites. This was a priority issue for NAHB members during last month’s Legislative Conference.

H.R. 5558 would:

Develop a program to increase awareness among residential construction site operators of their regulatory requirements
Create a fair and reasonable process by which the EPA can seek information from residential construction site operators
Allow builders a one-time chance to correct permit deficiencies that don’t cause environmental harm
Remove duplicative permit obligations where residential construction site operators discharge into municipal storm sewer systems that are already permitted and regulated
Allow authorized states to assume the lead enforcement role
Provide statutory authorization for EPA’s current practice of issuing general permits

NAHB will continue to lobby members of Congress to support this bill in advance of future committee action. View the NBN article or the entire bill by clicking here and typing the bill number in the box in the center screen. For additional information, e-mail Jason Lynn or call him at 800-368-5242, x8307.

Minnesota Builder Testifies in Support of Property Rights Bill H.R. 4772

Minnesota builder and NAHB member Frank Kottschade on June 8 testified before the House Judiciary Constitution Subcommittee in support of H.R. 4772, the “Private Property Rights Implementation Act.” Because property owners face nearly insurmountable hurdles when seeking just compensation for a regulatory taking, government agencies are free to violate our Fifth Amendment protections with little fear that property owners will take legal action in response. This bill would restore balance to the system by allowing property owners to have the federal courts decide Fifth Amendment takings claims. H.R. 4772 is expected to move through the Judiciary Committee later this summer. View the NBN article or the entire bill by clicking here and typing H.R. 4772 in the box in the center screen. For more information, e-mail J.P. Delmore or call him at x8412. [return to top]

Senate Blocks Vote on Estate Tax Repeal

The Senate on June 8 fell three votes shy of the 60 needed to consider and vote on legislation that would permanently repeal the estate tax. While this represents a significant setback for proponents seeking to overturn what they call the “death tax,” Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) has pledged to resurrect the issue later this year. Before consideration of H.R. 8, the “Death Tax Repeal Permanency Act of 2005,” could even begin, legislators had to clear a parliamentary maneuver by invoking cloture, which requires the support of 60 senators for opening debate.

Because of the importance of this issue to home builders, NAHB designated the cloture vote on H.R. 8 as a “key vote” and sent a letter to every senator urging them to support the motion and to allow a debate on scuttling the estate tax to take place, regardless of their position on the issue. In the end, the Senate voted 57-41 in favor of the motion to limit debate. (See how your Senator voted). Senator Frist could seek another vote on the issue later this year by attempting to forge a bipartisan compromise that would fall short of outright repeal but significantly scale back the tax. NAHB is monitoring the situation closely and continues to press for full repeal of the estate tax. To read the legislation, click here and enter H.R. 8 in the box at the middle of the page. For more information, e-mail Greg Brown or call him at x8421. [return to top]

House Panel Approves HUD Appropriations Bill

The House Appropriations Committee last week passed the fiscal 2007 Transportation, Treasury and HUD Appropriations bill, clearing the way for House floor consideration later this month. The measure would fund the following programs as follows:

HUD overall funding: $35.3 billion
HOME program: $1.9 billion
HOME formula grants: $1.8 billion
CDBG: $4.2 billion
CDBG formula grants: $3.9 billion
PATH Program: $5 million
Section 8 tenant based vouchers: $15.8 billion
Section 8 project based vouchers: $5.5 billion
HOPE VI: $0
FHA Multifamily Loan Commitment Authority: $35 billion
FHA Overall Commitment Authority: $185 billion

For more information, e-mail Jenna Morgan Hamilton or call her at x8407. [return to top]

Labor Appropriations Bill Moves to Full Panel

The House Labor, Health, and Education Appropriations Subcommittee on June 7 approved its fiscal 2007 funding levels for programs under its jurisdiction. The full House Appropriations Committee is set to consider the measure this week. Of interest to NAHB members, the bill would provide funding for the following programs:

Job Corps: $1.523 billion
Workforce Investment Act funding, total: $4.967 billion
Apprenticeship: $21.4 million
Carl D. Perkins Vocational Education program: $1.3 billion
Responsible Reintegration of Youth Offenders program: $0
Prisoner Re-entry Program: $0
OSHA (total): $486 million
OSHA enforcement: $179.9 million
OSHA Susan Harwood training grants: $5 million

The Home Builders Institute (HBI) uses many of the programs funded under the Department of Labor to provide education and training opportunities that bring young people into the residential construction industry. Additionally, NAHB and the NAHB Research Center have used grants provided by the Susan Harwood Training Grant program to provide OSHA training seminars for NAHB members. The Labor Appropriations bill is expected to be considered by the full House before the end of June. For more information, e-mail Jenna Morgan Hamilton or call her at x8407. [return to top]

Conferees Provide Nearly $20 Billion for Hurricane Katrina Relief and Recovery

House and Senate conferees last week reached an agreement on the 2007 Supplemental Appropriations bill that is primarily intended to fund continuing operations in Iraq and recovery efforts on the Gulf Coast. Funding for Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts includes $19.8 billion for the following:

Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) - $5.2 billion for disaster relief, long-term recovery, and infrastructure restoration (Louisiana is eligible to receive up to $4.2 billion of this amount).
Education Assistance - $285 million for both schools serving displaced K-12 students and grants for colleges and universities.
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Disaster Relief Fund - $6 billion to replenish this fund plus $400 million for a pilot project on alternative sources of emergency housing (Katrina Cottages).
Small Business Assistance - $542 million
Levee Repair/Flood Control - $4 billion for armoring critical areas of the levees in New Orleans, raising levee heights for the Lake Pontchartrain and the West Bank, reinforcing/replacing floodwalls in New Orleans and other flood control efforts.

At one point in the process there was a proposal to pull $140 million from the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) portion of the bill to compensate a private company in Mississippi whose operations had suffered hurricane damage, but was not going to be fully compensated by insurance. NAHB urged lawmakers to preserve every dollar of CDBG money for recovery efforts and the proposal was subsequently dropped. A vote on the conference agreement will not take place before this week. For more information, e-mail Jenna Morgan Hamilton at x8407. [return to top]

Congress Begins Hearings on OFHEO Fannie Mae Report

James Lockhart, acting director of the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO), on June 6 testified before the House Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government Sponsored Enterprises on the results of OFHEO's three-year investigation into Fannie Mae's accounting and management problems. Committee members lined up in the expected fashion. Financial Services Chairman Mike Oxley (R-OH) and Reps. Richard Baker (R-LA) and Barney Frank (D-MA) all touted the House-passed GSE reform bill H.R. 1461 as having the necessary tools to address the concerns raised in the report, while other more strident GSE reformers made statements on the need for stronger portfolio limits.

The Senate Banking Committee is scheduled to hold a similar hearing on the OFHEO report on June 15. Acting Director Lockhart, SEC Chairman Christopher Cox, former Fannie Mae CEO Franklin Raines and current Fannie Mae President and CEO Daniel Mudd are slated to testify. With future movement of GSE reform hinging on advancing S. 190 in the Senate, and with time quickly running-out on the 109th Congress, this week's hearing should lend some insight on whether Banking Committee Chairman Richard Shelby (R-AL) will seek to bring S. 190 to the Senate floor later this year. NAHB advocacy staff will be positioned to act accordingly to defend our reform priorities. To view the bills, click here and type H.R. 1461 or S. 190 in the box in the center screen. For more information, e-mail Scott Meyer or call him at x8144. [return to top]