Today, National Taxpayers Union and a coalition of 11 other center-right organizations released a letter urging Congress to pass H.R. 4913, the “Housing Finance Restructuring Act of 2016” introduced by Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-SC). Since 2012, the Obama administration has been sweeping the quarterly profits of the Government-Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, leaving them without sufficient capital to guard against possible losses. This has jeopardized the financial system as well as taxpayers.
If enacted, the Housing Finance Restructuring Act of 2016 would allow Fannie and Freddie to retain capital and require each institution to maintain similar capital ratios as other large financial institutions. This will guard against future bailouts of the GSEs.
“Last week, Freddie Mac announced first quarter net losses of over $350 million due to interest rate declines,” said NTU Counsel and Government Affairs Manager Clark Packard. “Though Freddie did not need to go back to the Treasury for additional capital, the loss highlights Washington’s failure to deal with housing finance reform. Thankfully Congressman Mick Mulvaney (R-SC) has taken the first step to reforming the broken status quo with the introduction of H.R. 4913, the Housing Finance Restructuring Act of 2016. NTU is pleased to lead a coalition in support of Congressman Mulvaney’s bill and urges Congress to work toward its passage.”
A copy of the letter can be found here.
National Taxpayers Union, “The Voice of America’s Taxpayers”, is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization working for lower taxes, smaller government, and economic freedom at all levels. More information on NTU’s work is available at www.ntu.org