H-17.3: National Housing Trust Fund Expansion Act (Passed)

[Sirius_]

A SENATE BILL
To expand the National Housing Trust Fund
Be it enacted in both Houses of Congress

Section 1; Title
1. This legislation may be cited as the National Housing Trust Fund Expansion Act.
Section 2; Expansion of the National Housing Trust Fund
1. Funding for the National Housing Trust Fund is increased to $5.0 billion annually.
Section 3; Funding
1. The top marginal rate of corporate tax is increased by 0.5%.
Section 4; Implementation
1. This legislation shall take immediate effect.

People's Regional Senate
Passed 4-0 in Atlasian Senate Assembled,

Sponsor: Vern
Designation: H-17.3

Bringing this to the floor on the behalf of the Vice President.

[Sirius_]

A sponsor is needed

[Vern]

I'll Sponsor

[Sirius_]

I'll Sponsor

24 hours to object to Rep. Vern assuming sponsorship.

[At-Large Senator LouisvilleThunder]

I oppose this bill.

[JGibson]

This is a good bill for Atlasia.

[Joe Haydn]

I'm all for public housing, so I strongly support this bill.

[tmthforu94]

Very basic debate so far so I'll dive in...

Quoting a question posed by Sestak when this was debated in the Senate:

I am still waiting for the sponsor to provide further evidence that this program can scale and why it's the best use of federal dollars even just related to housing.

I'm not contending that there isn't a need for affordable housing, but is this the right way to go? My understanding is that this money is just block granted to the regions and they get to determine the best ways to spend it.

Relevant info provided by former VP YE:

Some background info:

https://nlihc.org/issues/nhtf

https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/110/hr3221

https://nlihc.org/sites/default/files/HFSC_NLIHC_Testimony_12_21_2018.pdf

From the testimony linked above...,

Because the HTF is administered as a block grant, each state has the flexibility to decide how to best use HTF resources to address its most pressing housing needs. Most states have chosen to use their HTF investments to build, rehabilitate, or preserve affordable rental housing for ELI veterans, seniors, people with disabilities or special needs, and people experiencing homelessness. The HTF was established as a provision of HERA and signed into law by President George W. Bush. The primary purpose of the HTF is to close the gap between the number of ELI renter households and the number of homes renting at prices they can afford.

(I can't quote more to avoid copyvio)

My take is this may not be corporate welfare in the worst sense but I'm weary of attempts to block grant stuff to the states when a Republican IRL proposed such after Bill Clinton being the jerk that he was signed a bill in 1996 to do block grant welfare to the states, considering Republicans control most state governments and thus in a position to do whatever their donors want. But in this game, it may not be as bad of an idea since no one here takes corporate PAC money to play a fake election game (although in this case we'd give money to the regions).

[Mr. Reactionary]

Additionally, this bill is fully funded by the tax increase.
The amount of the trust fund fluctuates by year but usually falls around $200 Million. In 2018 IRL it was an all time high of $267 million, with $174 Million allocated in 2016 and $219 Million in 2017. 

This bill would increase the allocation 18.7 fold (1,870%) over 2018 spending and would lock in the spending levels going forward on future budgets.

[Sirius_]

Vern assumes sponsorship, I invite him to post his advocacy.

[Vern]

Thank you Mr. Speaker,

First off I would like to say, I support the idea of this bill. We all know that there is a great need for affordable housing in our country. And this is a problem we need to address. That is why I choose to sponsor this bill.

Now I am not a fan of raising the corporate tax, because I am worried how it could negatively effect the economy if we do so, even if it is just by .5%. So I would like to Explore other ways to fund this bill. I will reach out to the GM office and see what I can come up with. If any others have any ideas please feel free to speak up. I know we can come up with a way to fund this bill without having to raise the corporate tax.

Thank you for your time.

[Vern]

If we raise the tax on tobacco and alcohol by 10 cents, how much would that bring in?

[Mr. Reactionary]

If you or the other reps would like to try to build an alternative funding source, here is some farm waste you can mix and match and play around with.

https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=308862.msg6632194#msg6632194

[Vern]

I propose the following amendment (which I don't know if we have to vote on this because I am the sponsor.)

Section 1; Title
1. This legislation may be cited as the National Housing Trust Fund Expansion Act.
Section 2; Expansion of the National Housing Trust Fund
1. Funding for the National Housing Trust Fund is increased to $5.0 billion annually.
Section 3; Funding
1.The top marginal rate of corporate tax is increased by 0.5%. The Fund shall come from the following actions;
a. Transfer the following Service to The National Institute for Food and Agriculture creating a new Sub-department
- Economic Research Service 
b. Transfer the following Services to the Department of Science creating a new Sub-department for each
- Agricultural Statictics Service 
- Agricultural Research Service
- National Institute for Food and Agriculture
c.Transfer the Following Services to the Food and Drug Administration creating a new Sub-department for each.
- Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
- Food Safety and Inspection Service
-Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration
- Label and Grading services
d.Transfer the Following Agencies and Offices and Services to The Department of Commerce creating a new Sub-department for each.
-Risk Management Agency
-Farm Service Agency
-Office of Rural Development
-Rural Business Cooperative Service
-Rural Utility Service
e.Transfer the Following Service to the Department of Housing and Urban  Development creating a new sub-department.
 -Rural Housing Service
f.Transfer the Following Service to the Department of Interior creating a new sub-department.
-Natural Resources Conservation Service
g.Eliminating the Following.
-Perishable Agricultural Commodities Program
-Section 32 “surplus” purchases
-Agriculture Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage programs
Section 4; Implementation
1. This legislation shall take immediate effect.

[Sirius_]

Section 1; Title
1. This legislation may be cited as the National Housing Trust Fund Expansion Act.
Section 2; Expansion of the National Housing Trust Fund
1. Funding for the National Housing Trust Fund is increased to $5.0 billion annually.
Section 3; Funding
1.The top marginal rate of corporate tax is increased by 0.5%. The Fund shall come from the following actions;
a. Transfer the following Service to The National Institute for Food and Agriculture creating a new Sub-department
- Economic Research Service  
b. Transfer the following Services to the Department of Science creating a new Sub-department for each
- Agricultural Statictics Service  
- Agricultural Research Service
- National Institute for Food and Agriculture
c.Transfer the Following Services to the Food and Drug Administration creating a new Sub-department for each.
- Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
- Food Safety and Inspection Service
-Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration
- Label and Grading services
d.Transfer the Following Agencies and Offices and Services to The Department of Commerce creating a new Sub-department for each.
-Risk Management Agency
-Farm Service Agency
-Office of Rural Development
-Rural Business Cooperative Service
-Rural Utility Service
e.Transfer the Following Service to the Department of Housing and Urban  Development creating a new sub-department.
 -Rural Housing Service
f.Transfer the Following Service to the Department of Interior creating a new sub-department.
-Natural Resources Conservation Service
g.Eliminating the Following.
-Perishable Agricultural Commodities Program
-Section 32 “surplus” purchases
-Agriculture Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage programs
Section 4; Implementation
1. This legislation shall take immediate effect.

Feedback: Origin
Status: Objection with Counter-Amendment

[Sirius_]

I object and offer the following counter-amendment based on actions agreed upon by the Domestic Policy Council:

Section 1; Title
1. This legislation may be cited as the National Housing Trust Fund Expansion Act.
Section 2; Expansion of the National Housing Trust Fund
1. Funding for the National Housing Trust Fund is increased to $5.0 billion annually.
Section 3; Funding
1. The top marginal rate of corporate tax is increased by 0.5%. This act shall be funded by the following:
a. Eliminate all Offices of Civil Rights under the Department of Internal Affairs and replace with one Office of Civil Rights under the Department of Internal Affairs.
b. Reduce funding for the Economic Research Service by 25% and transfer to the National Institute for Food and Agriculture
c. Transfer the following administrations to the Food and Drug Administration:
-Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
-Food Safety and Inspection Service
-Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration
- Label and Grading services
d. Reduce funding for the Agricultural Research Service by 25%
e. Making the following changes to the National Institute for Food and Agriculture:
-Eliminating ethanol research
-Reducing funding for education programs by 10%
Reducing funding for extension services by 10%
f. Making the following changes to the Agricultural Marketing Service:
-Reducing funding by 25%
-Eliminating "organic" certification
g. Making the following changes to the Risk Management Service:
-Capping annual per-customer payouts at $250,000
-Means testing premium support for farmers with income exceeding $1 million annually
h. Making the following changes to the Farm Service Agency:
-Means testing Emergency Conservation Program payments for incomes above $1 Million
-Ending subsidies to farms which are profitable without them
-Prohibiting farmers from participating in both federal crop insurance and ARC or PLC programs
i. Transferring the Natural Resources Conservation Service to the Subdepartment of the Interior
j. Transferring the Rural Housing Service to the Subdepartment of Housing and Urban Development and reducing its funding by 5%.

Section 4; Implementation
1. This legislation shall take immediate effect.

If I am correct these changes should amount to around $4.5 billion.

[Vern]

If the GM could give numbers on both Amendments

[Vern]

I am willing to go with this, just want to make sure the numbers are right by the GM. I sent Him a PM.

[P. Clodius Pulcher did nothing wrong]

I believe that the tax increase is a good form of funding for this. There is no need to just cut random programs willy nilly when a revenue increase would be a good thing.

[Sirius_]

I believe that the tax increase is a good form of funding for this. There is no need to just cut random programs willy nilly when a revenue increase would be a good thing.

These aren't willy nilly, these were deemed wasteful by the mandated government audit.

[Vern]

I believe that the tax increase is a good form of funding for this. There is no need to just cut random programs willy nilly when a revenue increase would be a good thing.

These aren't willy nilly, these were deemed wasteful by the mandated government audit.

I agree with the Speaker here. Raising Corporate taxes is never a good thing and could cause lay-offs. And I am not going to be part of anything that could put people out of work when we can cut wasteful spending.

[Vern]

I was waiting on the GM to get back, but I am sure he is very busy. So I will accept the amendment as friendly and let get this ball rolling.

[P. Clodius Pulcher did nothing wrong]

While I believe it would have been better to raise revenue rather than cut spending, this bill is still a good idea and I will support it despite the funding change.

[Mr. Reactionary]

Ill confirm the scoring as soon as I can. This week has been garbage, im averaging 4 meetings a day during the day and work is making me come in @530 for a 3 hr meeting tonite even though its my brother's birthday.

[#TheShadowyAbyss]

I agree with Razze's sentiments, I will support this bill. I disagree that raising corporate tax rates will lead to lay-offs as long as their not massive increases. On the flip side the evidence of lowering corporate tax rates and creating jobs has very little correlation and proof.