A congressional commission charged with examining affordable housing issues held its first meeting here yesterday, but it is not clear if it will deal with topics of interest to the municipal bond market during its 14-month tenure.
Former Rep. Susan Molinari, R-N.Y., a co-chairwoman of the Millennial Housing Commission, predicted yesterday that issues related to housing finance will receive significant attention at the commission's upcoming meetings. The commission was created to suggest ways to boost the role of the private sector in providing affordable housing and to improve the existing programs of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. It is expected to issue its recommendations to Congress by March 2002.
"We've been charged by Congress to recommend legislation that will deal with how we finance mortgages, as well as how tax policy and legislation at all levels of government can help foster affordable housing," Molinari said.
She said that despite the still strong economy, there are currently over 28 million households across the nation that do not have access to decent, affordable housing.
"The current housing system doesn't work for these people," said Molinari.
The commission is not likely to consider the fate of HUD's Office of Multifamily Housing Assistance Restructuring, said co-chairman Richard Ravitch, who is also chairman of the AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust. OMHAR, which is responsible for cost-saving Section 8 mark-to-market restructuring, is scheduled to go out of existence at the end of September unless the statute that authorized it is renewed.
Yesterday's meeting, which was closed to the public, was the commission's initial organizational meeting, Molinari said, adding that field hearings at cities throughout the country will probably begin in March of this year.
The commission includes 22 of the nation's top housing specialists, said Ravitch.
Some other members of the commission include: Joseph Lynch, commissioner of the New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal; Feather O. Houstoun, Pennsylvania secretary of public welfare; Dan Fauske, executive director of the Alaska Housing Finance Corp.; Renee Glover, executive director of the Atlanta Housing Authority; Samuel Moseley, a former regional HUD administrator; and Cushing Dolbeare, founder of the National Low Income Housing Coalition.
