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March 16, 2011

Habitat for Humanity not yet home free

Bipartisan bills free of controversy also affected by contentious Statehouse stalemate

BY MAUREEN HAYDEN CNHI

INDIANAPOLIS — Supporters of the Habitat for Humanity homebuilding program were pleased when the Indiana House voted to support a bill that would protect dozens of its affiliates in communities across the state.

The bill exempts the local affiliates from having to follow costly federal regulations that were intended to go after the predatory lenders that helped trigger the mortgage-foreclosure crisis.

Similar to legislation in 25 other states, the bill sailed through the House on a 98-0 vote.

But now it lies stalled in the state Senate, among a small multitude of noncontroversial, bipartisan bills that could fall off the table if the historic standoff in the Indiana Statehouse continues. As House Democrats move into the fourth week of a quorum-busting boycott that has virtually shut down business in the Indiana House, supporters of such low-profile legislation as the Habitat bill worry what may happen next.

“We need this legislation to pass for Habitat to continue to do what they do, which is to provide zero-percent loans to low-income families in need of affordable housing,” said Rick Wajda, a Habitat for Humanity of Indiana board member.

Without its passage, Habitat officials fear 63 of its 68 volunteer-based affiliates could no longer afford to operate because they don’t have the money to pay the fees, bonds and other costs associated with the federal regulations. Those costly rules are part of the federal Secure and Fair Enforcement Mortgage Licensing Act, known as the SAFE Act, that required all states to put a system in place to license mortgage lenders. But SAFE Act authors have said the law had the unintended consequence of affecting Habitat, and have supported such state exemptions.

Wajda said he’s optimistic the partisan standoff will be resolved soon. So, too, are the Habitat bill sponsors, Rep. Ed Clere from New Albany, and Sen. Randy Head from Logansport. Both are Republicans who worked with Democrats to gain bipartisan support for the bill.

“We don’t want this to be part of the collateral damage done by the walkout,” Clere said.

For the bill to keep moving, it needs to get a hearing in front of a Senate committee, then a vote to approve it without any changes. Any amendment to the bill could kill it if the House doesn’t resume its legislative business by its April 29 deadline. That’s because any changes to the bill would have to be approved by conference committee of House and Senate members.  

But the state Senate has slowed down its work in hopes House Democrats would soon return from a walkout that started over GOP-backed legislation aimed at curbing labor unions and shifting public education dollars.

 After almost three weeks in limbo, the Senate resumed much of its committee work this week. No hearing had been set on the Habitat bill as of Tuesday, but Head said he’s hopeful that the bill will get a hearing soon. If it makes it through the Senate committee and the full Senate without any changes, it would go to the governor for his signature.

But there is plenty that could stand in the way. Senate Republicans, who hold a majority, are worried about their bills that passed through the Senate and are now stuck in the House. House Republicans, meanwhile, are worried about their bills that were stalled by the walkout.

Getting them all unstuck isn’t easy, and it requires some legislative gymnastics that could cause some bills to simply die for lack of time or interest. One option: The state Senate could strip language from bills that have already passed through the  House and insert new language from their bills that are stuck in the House. The Senate could approve those changes, then send the bills back to the House — if and when the House Democrats return — for an up-or-down vote. Democrats would have little input into the process.

Indiana Republican House Speaker Brian Bosma said it’s not the ideal way to legislate, but that he’s getting tired of the standoff. “I feel like I’m being held hostage,” Bosma said Tuesday of the demands Democrats have issued as a condition of their return.

House Democrats, meanwhile, have blamed Bosma for the standoff, contending he won’t agree to table  what they’ve called “radical” legislation that would negatively affect public education and labor unions.

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