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Washington Digest: Senate approves housing stimulus bill Monday, Apr 14, 2008 By Aaron Sadler Stephens Washington Bureau WASHINGTON - In a move to repair a troubled housing market, the Senate last week approved an array of tax breaks and mortgage incentives. The housing stimulus package comes in the wake of an earlier round of tax rebates and small-business tax cuts aimed at reviving a struggling U.S. economy. The Senate passed the housing bill 84-12. Supporters called it a good first step and a signal that Congress plans to respond to the mortgage crisis. Opponents claimed the legislation does not go far enough to help homeowners in danger of losing their homes. They said it was tilted to bail out lenders who share blame for the housing mess. A pending House measure is likely to do more for borrowers, providing tax credits for first-time home buyers. It removes the $7,000 tax credit for purchasers of foreclosed homes that is included in the Senate-passed bill. The Senate bill provides $25 billion in tax incentives for home builders and other businesses that have lost money in the subprime mortgage mess. Another $10.9 billion in tax-free mortgage revenue bonds would be targeted to help borrowers refinance subprime loans. Grants totaling $4 billion would be set aside for municipalities to buy and remodel abandoned homes. It provides a one-time tax credit of $500 for individuals or $1,000 for couples who pay property taxes but do not itemize their deductions. The Senate version overhauls the Federal Housing Administration to help more Americans refinance into FHA-backed loans. The House is likely to seek $300 billion for the FHA to insure refinanced loans of homeowners who risk foreclosure. Sens. Mark Pryor and Blanche Lincoln, both D-Ark., voted for the bill. House puts off Colombia trade deal The House, in a party-line vote, stalled a controversial free-trade pact with Colombia in anger over the president's decision to forward the agreement to Congress without the support of Democratic leaders. The House voted 224-195 to change its rules to delay consideration of the pact. Without the move, Congress would have had 60 legislative days to consider the deal. Democratic leaders wanted to hold off on the agreement because they said they weren't consulted on the measure. Democrats also said their priority is a new Trade Adjustment Assistance program, which they said would help unemployed workers and boost the economy. Proponents of the Colombian trade pact said the House's action damages relations with a key South American ally and jeopardizes future trade agreements with other countries. The rule change likely puts off any vote on the Colombia accord until next year. Reps. Marion Berry, D-Gillett, Mike Ross, D-Prescott, and Vic Snyder, D-Little Rock, voted to delay action on the trade agreement. Rep. John Boozman, R-Rogers, voted to move forward. Conservation program recognized Over objections from some Western-state lawmakers and gun-rights advocates, the House placed into law a conservation system that covers more than 26 million acres of federal land, mostly in the West. The vote was 278-140. The National Landscape Conservation System Act codifies a program created in 2000 as a way to protect and conserve national historic trails, scenic rivers, wildlife areas and national monuments. The system encompasses about 10 percent of the land overseen by the Bureau of Land Management. Opponents maintained that the legislation would tighten restrictions on activities on the lands. Amendments to the bill protect grazing rights and ensure states may manage hunting, fishing and trapping on the lands. Supporters said putting the system into law allows BLM to manage the some 800 units as comprehensive entities and may motivate Congress to provide more money to protect the lands. Berry, Ross and Snyder voted for the system. Boozman voted no. Senate turns back amendments The Senate easily passed a broad bill containing 62 provisions related to public lands nationwide after turning back amendments proposed by Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla. The bill establishes national heritage areas in Illinois and New York, designates a federal wilderness area in Washington state and advances plans for a memorial to President Dwight D. Eisenhower in Washington, D.C. The legislation had been delayed for months because of an amendment Coburn said he would introduce that would have loosened regulations on firearms in national parks. Coburn agreed to withdraw the amendment after receiving criticism even from members of his own party. Four other amendments offered by Coburn were defeated. One, which failed 63-30, would have ordered the Office of Management and Budget to complete an annual tally of the amount of land owned by the federal government and an estimated taxpayer cost to own and maintain the land. Opponents said it would be too burdensome and costly to catalog annually some 1.2 billion property assets and 635 million acres of land worldwide. Lincoln and Pryor voted against the amendment. |
