[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 43 (Monday, March 11, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2347-S2348]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS
By Mr. REED (for himself and Mrs. Britt):
S. 3904. A bill to establish a pilot program to improve the family
self-sufficiency program, and for other purposes; to the Committee on
Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
Mr. REED. Madam President, today I am introducing the Helping More
Families Save Act with Senator Britt. This bipartisan legislation would
help more families in HUD-assisted housing build savings and improve
their financial security by creating a pilot program for Family Self-
Sufficiency, FSS, universal escrow accounts.
The FSS Program was established under the National Affordable Housing
Act of 1990 to help low-income families boost savings and improve their
professional, educational, and financial standing. In 2018, I worked
with then-Senator Roy Blunt to expand the program to cover more
households. Today, millions of public housing residents. Housing Choice
Voucher Program participants, and residents of project-based rental
assistance, PBRA, housing are eligible for FSS.
FSS provides two key tools for its participants. First, households
work with FSS coordinators to develop long-term financial,
professional, or educational goals. FSS coordinators also help connect
participants with resources, training, and employment opportunities.
Second, the program encourages FSS families to save by providing them
with an interest-bearing escrow account. Participants who increase
their incomes deposit a portion of their addditional earnings into
their escrow account instead of paying higher rent, as is typically
required under federally subsidized housing programs. Upon graduation
from the FSS Program, families can use their escrowed savings to pay
for job-related expenses, move to private market housing, buy a home,
or save for the future.
After more than 30 years, FSS has become a proven financial
independence program. Indeed, in 2021 27 percent of FSS graduates no
longer needed Federal rental assistance within 1 year of leaving FSS,
while 11 percent of graduates were ultimately able to purchase their
own home, FSS graduates with
[[Page S2348]]
escrow savings, on average, had approximately $9,495 in their account
upon leaving the program--a substantial sum for low-income families.
Despite the program's success and broad eligibility, program
participation was effectively capped at about 70,000 enrollees in 2023
because there is simply not enough Federal funding for the required FSS
corordinators.
The Helping More Families Save Act would help more Americans access
the program by creating a anew universal escrow pilot. Under the bill,
public housing agencies, PHAs, and PBRA property owners could offer a
limited number of additional households escrow accounts identical to
those under the current FSS Program without having to wait for an FSS
coordinator to be funded by the Federal Government. Although PHAs and
PBRA property owners would not be required to offer Coordinator
services to these participants, we expect many will work to offer
appropriate counseling and support on their own or with outside
partners. Moreover, we expect that this pilot will show that those
enrolled in the program will be successful and make wise decisions.
If successful, the pilot program could help more low-income families
improve their financial security, achieve economic independence, and
even purchase their own homes, all with minimal cost to the Federal
Government.
This is a commonsense, bipartisan proposal that has the potential to
help lift more American families out of poverty. It is a win for
families, the Federal budget, and our economy. I thank Senator Britt
for coleading this legislation and Compass Working Capital and LISC for
their support. I urge our colleagues to cosponsor the Helping More
Families Save Act and support its passage.
______
By Mr. REED (for himself and Ms. Lummis):
S. 3905. A bill to amend title I of the National Housing Act to
increase the loan limits and clarify that property improvement loans
may be used for construction of accessory dwelling units; to the
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
Mr. REED. Madam President, today I am introducing the Property
Improvement and Manufactured Housing Loan Modernization Act with
Senator Lummis. This legislation would strengthen the Federal Housing
Administration, FHA, title I loan program to both help more families
find and own an affordable home and better preserve our existing
housing stock.
Like its better known title II sister program, FHA title I expands
access to housing and boosts affordability for families by insuring
private market loans. However, title I is targeted towards two
underserved portions of our housing market--manufactured homes and
property improvement.
For decades, title I has provided low-cost loans that help more
families afford a manufactured home or make necessary improvements to
their existing home, while expanding and preserving critical portions
of housing supply. Indeed, manufactured homes are the largest source of
unsubsidized affordable housing in the country, and property
improvement loans help prevent more single-family homes and apartments
from falling out of our housing stock.
These loans should be a central tool helping to close our nationwide
housing shortage, which Freddie Mac estimates at 3.8 million homes.
However, outdated loan limits and statutory restrictions have weakened
title I's effectiveness and turned the program from success to a missed
opportunity.
From the mid-1980s, through the early 1990s lenders offered 15,000 to
25,000 title I manufactured home loans each year, but in 2021, only 3
loans were issued. Similarly, lenders have gone from making more than
70,000 title I property improvement loans annually in the 1990s to
making fewer than 1,000 in 2022. That is a 99-percent drop in loan
volume. In other words, as many as 99,000 fewer homes being bought,
preserved, and included in our housing stock each year.
The Property Improvement and Manufactured Housing Loan Modernization
Act would refurbish title I and return it to our housing toolbox. It
would expand loan limits and loan terms for all title I loans--making
the program fit market demand and needs. Perhaps more importantly. the
bill would finally allow FHA to index property improvement loans for
inflation and expand the data it uses to set manufactured home loan
limits, ensuring title I will remain a crucial tool as home costs rise
in future years.
Finally, our legislation makes accesible dwelling units, ADUs, which
are small housing units added to a single-family property often for use
by a family member, eligible for title I financing. In other words, our
bill will make the revamped title I program an even more powerful home-
creation program than it was during its prior peak years and will
particularly help families who want to provide a safe, comfortable
place for aging parents or young adult children to live.
Collectively, these improvements would help more families own a home,
remain in homes they have spent decades in, and find an affordable
place to live. I urge my colleagues to join Senator Lummis and myself,
cosponsor this bill, and support its passage.
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