In a webinar held on June 30, Sheila Crowley, President and CEO of NLIHC, reviewed the four current avenues for funding the National Housing Trust Fund (NHTF) currently pursued by the NHTF Campaign.

The first is the $1 billion that was included in the President’s FY12 budget that will have to be offset by a cut elsewhere, most likely in a tax bill.

The second is the $1 billion in S. 489 and H.R. 1477 to be offset by proceeds from sale of TARP warrants. Despite the controversy that surrounds TARP and prevents some Members of Congress from supporting these bills, the NHTF Campaign is encouraging advocates to convince their Senators and Representatives to cosponsor the respective bills in order to demonstrate their continuing support for the NHTF. Including Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), who introduced S. 489, the bill currently has 16 co-sponsors. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) is the latest Senator to sign on. In the House, Representative Elijah Cummings (D-MD) has 37 cosponsors of his bill, H.R. 1477. Representatives Louise Slaughter (D-NY) and Pete Stark (D-CA) signed on in early June.

These two options would provide one-time money only.

The third option the NHTF campaign is pursuing is a dedicated source of revenue from whatever entities replace Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, as has been proposed by the Obama Administration. Legislation to reform the housing finance system is not expected to move before 2012 at the earliest.

Finally, the campaign is actively advocating for funding for the NHTF that would come from savings generated by reform of the mortgage interest deduction.

The details of these possible funding sources, as well as a recording of the webinar and the slides from the presentation, can be reviewed at http://www.nhtf.org/