Hatch Proposes Tax On Fannie, Freddie

Yet another powerful Republican lawmaker is trying to tax securities issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Sen. Orrin G. Hatch of Utah is proposing that the agencies pay a user fee of 0.2% on their debt securities.

The $900 million raised annually would be used, in part, to pay for child-care facilities. The proposal has been filed as a possible amendment to the budget bill now before the Senate Finance Committee.

The user fee is seen as a way to compensate taxpayers for the cheap funding the agencies enjoy by virtue of their ties to the government.

Previous efforts to impose such user fees have failed, with Fannie and Freddie arguing that a tax on their securities is a tax on homeownership.

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