Sarah Bloom Raskin is an outstanding choice to be the Federal Reserve Board of Governors’ Vice Chair for Supervision. She is eminently qualified for this critically important role, having served in two key positions during the recovery from the 2008 financial crisis.
I commend the Senate for the confirmation of Alanna McCargo as President of Ginnie Mae. In her new role, Ms. McCargo will have the opportunity to ensure that Ginnie Mae policy aligns with the Biden administration’s goals of reducing housing costs and expanding access to homeownership for historically underserved groups. Ms. McCargo has the expertise necessary to get Ginnie Mae back on track after five years without a permanent head.
President Biden’s nomination of Sandra Thompson to serve as Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is the right choice for one of the most important jobs in housing. Since her appointment as FHFA Acting Director in June, Ms. Thompson has repeatedly demonstrated her commitment to an equitable housing finance system. Her extensive experience at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation makes her particularly well qualified to oversee the safety and soundness of the housing industry through the Government Sponsored Enterprises.
Today we witnessed an important milestone in the process of passing historic legislation. President Biden has noted the importance of affordable, stable housing more often than any president in modern history. The passage of this bill would cement his legacy as one of America’s most pro-housing presidents.
“CRA was passed in direct, explicit response to redlining, a practice that targeted people of color regardless of income or credit risk to deny them the same wealth-building opportunities afforded to White Americans,” said NHC President and CEO David M. Dworkin. “NHC has always maintained that in order to be faithful to that original purpose, a modernized CRA regulation must incent financial institutions to lend not only in low- and moderate-income communities, but in communities of color specifically.”
President Biden has noted the importance of affordable, stable housing more often than any president in modern history, and the passage of this bill would cement his legacy as one of America’s most pro-housing presidents.
A diverse group of housing stakeholders gathered at the Capitol today to call for substantial investment in housing as part of the budget reconciliation package currently being negotiated in Congress.
A new study finds that workers attracted to jobs created by bipartisan infrastructure legislation would struggle to afford housing across much of the country. The National Housing Conference (NHC) today released its Paycheck to Paycheck Fall 2021 Quarterly Update profiling 15 infrastructure-related occupations that would be in demand if the proposed Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is passed. NHC found that homeownership already is unaffordable in a majority of metropolitan areas for all but one of the occupations it profiled. The study also found that many infrastructure workers would struggle even to afford to rent housing across much of the country.
The creation of a federal down payment assistance program for first-generation homebuyers would extend the American dream of homeownership to millions of families who have been excluded from it for too long. Families who lack the advantages of intergenerational homeownership have a harder time affording homes of their own, shutting them out of the opportunity to build wealth through homeownership and perpetuating a cycle of inequality. In concert with other proposals to expand housing opportunities, this bill will go a long way toward ensuring that American families are not locked out of wealth-building due to the circumstances of their birth. It should be funded at the highest possible level.
Today’s announcement by the Federal Housing Finance Agency and the U.S. Department of the Treasury that they have suspended limits on so-called “higher-risk loans” made by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is an essential step towards increasing opportunities for those who have been denied access to the American dream of homeownership. The so-called “limits on loans with higher-risk characteristics” were unnecessary when they were instituted and only served to prevent credit-worthy homebuyers, disproportionately people of color, from becoming homeowners.
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