Capito Opening Statement At Hearing On Affordable Housing

Capito Opening Statement at Hearing on Affordable Housing

Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., made the following opening statement at today's House Financial Services Committee hearing on "Legislative Options for Preserving Federally and State-Assisted Affordable Housing and Preventing Displacement of Low-Income, Elderly and Disabled Tenants." Capito is the Ranking Republican Member on the Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity.

Statement as Prepared for Delivery

"I would like to thank the Chairman for holding this important hearing today and would also like to welcome Secretary Donovan to his second appearance before this Committee. I think we all share the Secretary's desire to not only promote homeownership, but also ensure that Americans have access to affordable rental housing.

"The legislation before us today includes many sections that I strongly support. Title VIII of the draft legislation is especially important to my home state of West Virginia as it makes important improvements to affordable housing in rural communities. My colleagues Rep. Davis of Tennessee and Rep. Davis of Kentucky are to be commended for their efforts on this legislation.

"I am also pleased that the section of this legislation modernizing the Sec. 202 program providing affordable housing for the elderly includes important language that I was able to include last Congress. This section addresses a problem facing smaller rural states in that currently their allocation of 202 units is split between metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas, often leading to states having to not develop their full allocation because they cannot find a developer to build the small non-metropolitan allocation. The new language in this legislation will provide smaller states with critical flexibility to use their allocations as they are most needed.

"While I do support these sections of the bill, I do have significant reservations about their inclusion in this larger package. Both the rural and senior housing sections have broad bi-partisan support and should be moved separately to enhance the possibility they will be adopted by both the House and Senate.

"The majority of this legislation addresses preservation of affordable housing in urban areas and is much more complex and contains some controversy. This may discourage future private sector participation in Federal housing programs and ultimately limit the availability of affordable housing. This legislation will carry a significant cost and there are new sections that could prompt extensive litigation and also alter the existing terms of existing contracts for developers.

"I know that extensive work has been done on this draft legislation and I look forward to working with the Chairman and the Secretary on many of these provisions."

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