The House Committee on Financial Services passed its oversight plan for the 113th Congress on a party-line vote of 33 to 27. The plan is to be submitted to both the Committee on Oversight and the Committee on Government Reform and Administration. The nonbinding oversight plan lays out potential subjects for committee work in the broad areas under its jurisdiction. According to the plan, “the Committee will examine proposals to modify or terminate Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s statutory charters, harmonize their business operations, and wind down any legacy business commitments.” The plan includes oversight of a long list of housing and community development programs. In addition to oversight of the Federal Housing Administration (see article elsewhere in Memo), the committee plans to “continue its effort to address… the government’s role in the future of affordable housing.” The committee will also look at how “933 rural communities… will no longer be eligible for housing programs” under the Rural Housing Service after March 27, 2013. As a result of population changes from the 2010 Census, more than 900 rural communities would have lost their “rural” status on October 1, 2012 had Congress not intervened by inserting an extension in CR for FY13 appropriations, which expires on March 27.Authorization of the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act expires on October 1. The committee intends to consider reauthorization while also looking at “the reasons for the backlog of unspent funds, and whether the program is meeting its objectives.” “The Committee will consider ways to make the [Community Development Block Grant] program more effective and targeted towards extremely low income communities,” the plan says. An amendment related to veterans’ housing needs, offered by Representative Al Green (D-TX), was agreed to by voice vote during the plan’s markup. The amendment says the committee will monitor and promote coordination between HUD and other agencies in its work to address veterans’ housing needs. The amendment also provides that the committee will continue its oversight of the HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) program.Also on February 14, Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Chair Tim Johnson (D-SD) unveiled his agenda for the 113th Congress. Chair Johnson’s focus will be on “strengthening and sustaining the nation’s economic recovery, with top priorities including: continued oversight of Wall Street Reform implementation, building bipartisan consensus on the future of housing finance, reauthorizing expiring programs within the Committee’s jurisdiction, and considering the President’s nominees expeditiously.”Among the committee’s top priorities for the 113th Congress are stabilizing the housing market and building consensus on the future of housing finance, and promoting economic growth and access to capital in rural America and Indian Country. The committee will conduct FHA oversight and “may also consider proposals to streamline and improve the Section Eight and public housing rental housing assistance programs,” as well as legislation to preserve or replace affordable assisted housing that could be lost through expiring assistance contracts or physical obsolescence. Click here to view a webcast and all testimony from the February 14 Financial Services hearing. Click here to read Senator Johnson’s statement.