Subcommittee Approves Federal Housing Administration Funding

A Senate appropriations subcommittee has approved new funding for the Federal Housing Administration to hire additional staff and update its aging information systems as part of the Department of Housing and Urban Development budget for fiscal year 2010. "It provides funds to start modernizing its technology systems in order to track its mortgages and obligations, which — I regret to tell you — it cannot do right now," said Sen. Christopher Bond, R-Mo. Sen. Bond also expressed concerns about the rapid growth of the FHA program and the lack of staff and expertise to manage the FHA single-family program effectively. "It may be at the edge of a meltdown," he warned. Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., expressed similar concerns. "If we don't watch out we could have another Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac," Sen. Shelby said at a subcommittee markup of the HUD appropriations bill.