The Senate’s Johnson Crapo measure to reform housing finance and eliminate Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac was scheduled to be marked up at the end of April, as MHProNews reported April 29, 2014, but was held up so the bill could pick up steam and garner more support. Instead, the bill, as written, according to housingwire.com, may be dead because six key Senate Democrats—Charles Schumer of New York, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Jeff Merkeley of Oregon, Jack Reed of Rhode Island and Robert Menendez of New Jersey— have withdrawn their support.

There is talk the measure may not re-appear until after the Nov. elections, or perhaps not for several years, some calling it the “Obamacare” of GSE reform, others saying it sets up the same circumstances that drove us into the Great Recession in 2008. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WVA) was preparing to offer amendments to Johnson-Crapo for manufactured housing regulatory relief. “Housing finance reform remains the most significant piece of unfinished business from the 2008 financial crisis,” Crapo said in a statement when his bill was delayed in committee. “Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac greatly contributed to the housing bubble, the financial crisis, and the dramatic government intervention that resulted. The current system is unsustainable, leaves taxpayers exposed to potentially trillions of dollars in liabilities, and has left the mortgage market in a state of limbo, forcing private capital out of the market.” ##

(Image credit: senate.gov–U. S. Senate chamber)