[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6424 Introduced in House (IH)]








109th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6424

  To increase the Federal Housing Administration mortgage commitment 
 level for fiscal year 2007 to carry out the purposes of sections 238 
      and 519 of the National Housing Act, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            December 8, 2006

    Mr. Gary G. Miller of California (for himself and Mr. Frank of 
Massachusetts) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To increase the Federal Housing Administration mortgage commitment 
 level for fiscal year 2007 to carry out the purposes of sections 238 
      and 519 of the National Housing Act, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Save Affordable Housing and Health 
Care Facilities Act of 2006''.

SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) programs in 
        the General Insurance/Special Risk Insurance (GI/SRI) Fund 
        provide financing for a wide range of activities, including 
        home equity conversion mortgages for the elderly, condominiums, 
        apartments, health care facilities, and hospitals;
            (2) the volume of activity in these programs is 
        traditionally heavy in the last few months of a calendar year 
        and has been particularly high this year due to continued low 
        interest rates and a large demand by seniors for mortgages that 
        will allow them to access the equity in their homes;
            (3) the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) 
        has indicated that the commitment authority for the programs in 
        this Fund may be exhausted if the continuing appropriations 
        resolution for fiscal year 2007 makes available only a prorated 
        portion of the amounts that were made available for the 
        programs for 2006;
            (4) if the commitment authority is exhausted, HUD will be 
        forced to shut down the programs in the GI/SRI Fund until 
        additional commitment authority is approved by the Congress;
            (5) the FHA home equity conversion mortgage insurance 
        program is virtually the only program available that allows 
        seniors to draw funds from the equity in their homes to pay 
        other bills and to remain in their homes with adequate 
        protections;
            (6) the FHA multifamily housing mortgage insurance programs 
        provide for the construction and rehabilitation of critically 
        needed affordable housing while also producing construction 
        jobs, and shutting down these programs will result in delays of 
        construction that may make some of these projects infeasible 
        due to rising construction costs;
            (7) the FHA hospital mortgage insurance program is a major 
        source of financing for community hospitals as well as larger 
        city hospitals that need to refinance or rehabilitate their 
        properties;
            (8) the FHA mortgage insurance programs for nursing homes 
        and assisted living facilities are virtually the only vehicles 
        for the rehabilitation of these properties, which is vital to 
        the elderly individuals living there;
            (9) increasing the commitment ceilings for the GI/SRI Fund 
        would not cost the Government additional funds but would 
        actually generate additional revenue for the Treasury; and
            (10) the programs that would otherwise be shut down pay for 
        their own costs through the collection by the FHA of mortgage 
        insurance premiums.

SEC. 3. INCREASE IN GENERAL INSURANCE AND SPECIAL RISK INSURANCE 
              COMMITMENT AUTHORITY.

    Notwithstanding section 101 of the Continuing Appropriations 
Resolution, 2007 (Division B of Public Law 109-289; 120 Stat. 1311), 
the maximum dollar amount limitation on commitments to guarantee loans 
to carry out the purposes of sections 238 and 519 of the National 
Housing 10 Act (12 U.S.C. 1715z-3 and 1735c) shall be continued for 
fiscal year 2007 at a rate for operations not exceeding 
$45,000,000,000.

SEC. 4. INCREASE IN HOME EQUITY CONVERSION MORTGAGE INSURANCE 
              AUTHORITY.

    Section 255(g) of the National Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1715z-20(g)), 
as amended by section 131 of Division B of the Continuing 
Appropriations Resolution, 2007 (120 Stat. 1316), is amended by 
striking ``275,000'' and inserting ``300,000''.
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