House Hearing on Reform Bill Postponed

A House Financial Services Committee hearing this morning on a housing finance reform bill in which Mortgage Bankers Association President and CEO Robert Broeksmit, CMB, was scheduled to testify this morning has been postponed.

The hearing, A Legislative Proposal to Provide for a Sustainable Housing Finance System: The Bipartisan Housing Finance Reform Act of 2018, had been scheduled for 10:00 a.m. ET. While Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, did not give a reason for the postponement, numerous activities on Capitol Hill this week were postponed or canceled to accommodate memorial services for former President George H.W. Bush, who passed away Nov. 30.

The bill (https://financialservices.house.gov/uploadedfiles/intro_007_xml_bhfra.pdf), introduced by two outgoing House members, Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, and John Delaney, D-Md., would repeal the charters of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and transition to a system that allows qualified mortgages backed by an approved private credit enhancer with regulated, diversified capital resources to access the explicit, full government securitization guarantee provided by Ginnie Mae.

Broeksmit was expected to discuss elements of the bill, as well as MBA’s landmark 2017 white paper, GSE Reform, Creating a Sustainable, More Vibrant Secondary Mortgage Market (https://www.mba.org/issues/gse-reform), which outlines the key principles and guardrails that should guide the reform effort and provides a detailed picture of a new secondary-market end state.

The hearing is expected to be rescheduled, possibly for next week.