WASHINGTON The Senate Banking Committee will vote Thursday on legislation to overhaul the housing finance system after abruptly postponing deliberations late last month.
The banking panel will consider legislation by Sens. Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) the committee chairman, and Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) the ranking member, to unwind Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and establish a new secondary market backed by an explicit guarantee in the case of catastrophic losses.
Johnson and Crapo delayed the markup on April 29, citing ongoing efforts to bring additional lawmakers on board.
The plan, which draws on earlier work by Sens. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) and Mark Warner (D-Va.) is expected to have enough support to pass out of the committee, but is not likely to gain the momentum needed to make it to the chamber floor this year. News broke last week that many of the uncommitted Democrats on the panel will not support the measure, despite the additional weeks of negotiations.
Brad Thaler, VP-Legislative Affairs at NAFCU said though it is good news that the panel is pushing forward with the bill, it's not necessarily a sign that it's now more likely to pass a full vote of the Senate. Indeed, it's also no guarantee it will even make it to the floor, even though it's expected to pass the committee, he added.
"The fact that they haven't been able to garner more support for the bill, that they haven't swayed any of those six key lawmakers makes it unlikely for this bill to really move forward," Thaler told Credit Union Journal.
The fact that the bill has been delayed is also a factor playing against the bill's chances, as election season looms. "No majority leader wants to bring a bill to the floor that is likely to split his caucus up during an election year," he said. "The delay severely hampers the bill's chances."
