Senate Housing Legislation Highly Disappointing
Less Than One-Fourth of Cost of Senate Bill Goes for Provisions That Will Actually Help Address the Foreclosure Crisis
On April 10, the Senate passed legislation that its supporters say will help struggling families hold on to their homes and assist the communities hit hardest by the foreclosure crisis. Measures that would help achieve these goals, however, account for less than one-fourth of the bill’s cost.
The remainder of the cost comes from an array of tax-cut provisions that either are unrelated to housing or are related but would do little or nothing to aid either homeowners at risk of foreclosure or hard-hit communities. Moreover, one of the bill’s provisions would actually worsen the problems that local governments face, and several other provisions could have adverse consequences, as well.
In addition, to avert a Republican filibuster, Senate negotiators omitted from the bill the one provision likely to be the most beneficial in averting foreclosures — a measure to provide a mechanism for large numbers of homeowners at risk of foreclosure to work out new mortgage arrangements with lenders. This measure was not passed over due to cost; its cost is lower than the amount the bill would spend on tax cuts that would do little or nothing to address the foreclosure crisis
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