Legislative Alert

Posted by Warren Enos on 18 Dec 2007 | Tagged as: MOAA Legislative Alert

6 Responses to “Legislative Alert”

on 18 Dec 2007 at 6:57 pm   Warren Enos




Dear Senator Boxer, (Feinstein, Baucus, Grassley)

On 12 Dec the House overwhelmingly passed HR 3997 and sent it to the Senate. The Senate incorporated parts of 3997 into S 1593 and sent it to the House for negotiation.

Unfortunately, 1593 did not correct the eligibility criteria for Qualified Veterans Mortgage Bonds (QVMB). Only five states issue home loans for Veterans using QVMB funds (California, Texas, Wisconsin, Oregon and Alaska).

The current IRS Code limits eligibility for these loans to Veterans who entered military service PRIOR to 1 JAN 1977 and sun-sets these loans in 2010. HR 3997 as written would have corrected this situation and made loans available to all Veterans indefinitely into the future.

This fix was inadvertently omitted by Senate Staff when S 1593 was written and passed five days ago. The House is expected to return HR 3997 with this essential fix intact. PLEASE get this fix into 1593 before the final vote is taken.

If not, NONE of today’s Veterans can get home loans from funds authorized by QVMBs.

Many thanks for your efforts on behalf of all Americans.

Respectfully,

William F. Gavitt, Col., USAF (Ret)
Member, Board of Directors
Military Officers Association of America (MOAA)
7007 Seville Way
Riverside, CA 92504-4832



on 18 Dec 2007 at 7:14 pm   Warren Enos




Friends and Colleagues,

Here is the latest from the CDVA on the status of HR 3997 and cooperative attempts to get the wording changed.

I have left in the addresses of the recipients so you may see how widespread are the attempts to influence this legislation.

Bill Gavitt

____________________________________

Subject: RE: HR 3997 update

Attached is the Governors’ letter that was sent to the Senate Finance Committee chair and ranking member after the House voted. Baucus and Grassley received the letter in both their personal offices and the committee offices.

The letter was copied to Reid in both his personal office and leadership office. Thanks, md

Subject: RE: HR 3997 update

Everyone - the House JUST passed the corrected version of HR 3997. If there are going to be phone calls to Baucus, Grassley, and Roberts’ offices they need to happen TONIGHT. It is possible that the Senate will recess this evening, as well as the House. I have a doubt in my mind as to whether or not the House can physically get the bill over to the Senate in time for a vote tonight BUT, that said, I understand the Senate will remain in session even over the December Holidays in order to avoid having the President make any recess appointments to his Administration. This means that on one of those days, with clearance by the rest of the Senate - embodied by Roberts Grassley and Baucus in this instance, the Senate MIGHT be able to pass our bill by Unanimous Consent. Or we wait until January. Either way - please alert your
veterans’ groups and national veterans’ groups as to what is going on! Thanks for all your efforts to date. We are close but not quite over the finish line. sb

Sarah Bittleman
Director
Washington DC Office
Office of the Governor of Oregon Theodore Kulongoski
444 North Capitol St.
Suite 400
Washington, DC 20001
202 624 7765
503 428 0459 (cell)
Fax: 202 624 7785
Sarah.Bittleman@state.or.us

____________________________________

Subject: HR 3997 update

House

H.R. 3997 is expected to pass the House under suspension today (originally scheduled for yesterday), with the original QVMB provision as passed by the House on Dec. 6 included.

Attached is a decscription, legislative language, and revenue table for H.R.
3997 as being considered today by the House.

QVMB is included in Sec. 102, including an increase in the bonding caps for AK, OR, WI from $25m to $100m, and an extension of the definition of veteran for CA and TX to remove the pre-1977 service entry requirement.

It therefore appears likely at this time that H.R. 3997 will pass the House with the requested QVMB language for all five states included.

Senate

As we agreed in our 5-state teleconference last week, joint letters were circulating as of yesterday afternoon for signature, including a 5-state Governors’letter and a 5-State Senators’ letter.

The Senate Finance Committee staff have met with the affected states’ Senate staff on the QVMB issue, and reportedly were now well aware of QVMB issues and its importance. Reportedly, the five states have weighed in in various ways to the committee as well.

However, while these combined efforts have hopefully helped to raise visibility and to underscore the legitimacy and critical importance of this issue, we have been informed this afternoon that the Senate Finance Committee is at this time continuing to resist the full QVMB measure, including the $100 million caps for AK, OR, WI. The reason(s) remain unclear.

Anthony Hardie
WDVA Executive Assistant
Office of the Secretary
Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs

Direct Phone: (608) 266-0517 — Fax: (608) 264-7616
Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs
30 West Mifflin Street
P.O. Box 7843
Madison, WI 53707-7843
Toll-Free: (800) WIS-VETS (800-947-8387)
Web Site: _www.dva.state.wi.us_
(http://owa.dva.state.wi.us/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.dva.state.wi.us)



on 18 Dec 2007 at 8:17 pm   Warren Enos




Colleagues,

I have had a call from Ron Brand and this message from Jerry Jones, both key staffers in the CDVA.

The continuing inclusion of the eligibility requirement in the Senate-passed version (S1593) that to obtain home loans from QVMB funding, Veterans must have served prior to 1 January 1977 is a killer. That is a major obstacle that
remains uncorrected.

I am advised that no Senator asked for this to remain and that a staff member who confused QVMB and QMB bonds was the reason this was not corrected. The other is the drop dead date for issuance of these bonds which should be removed from the wording of S1593.

Jerry Jones message points out the urgency of reacting today.

Thank you,

Bill Gavitt

Bill:

I wish we were mistaken, but unfortunately, the version of the bill that was passed by the Senate on December 12, 2007, did not contain the
necessary language for Quallified Veterans Mortgage Bonds (QVMB).

A reference to Qualified Mortgage Bonds (QMB) is still there, but that is for a different kind of bonds that are not our primary source of funding. The bonds we are trying to change, QVMB bonds, contain the January 1, 1977 limitation.

We think the confusion between QVMB and QMB, and having references to both in the same bill, may have had something to do with the reason the QVMB
reference was removed by the Senate Finance Committee.

We had a very urgent conference call on Friday, which included staff from the departments of veterans affairs from all 5 affected states and some Congressional staff, during which we
discussed a strategy that included asking veterans service organizations to write to the Senate finance committee.

To see the change in HR 3997, you need to compare the version that was “placed on the calendar” on December 3, 2007, with the “as agreed to by the
Senate” version voted on December 12, 2007.

Thanks for your help and interest.

Jerry

Gents,
Are you sure this has been removed?? Please check this reference in the Amendment to Title 1, Section 101, from Page s15366.

This sounds like and reads like what we wanted is still there. It appears to remove the 1 Jan 1977 date that has restricted the QVMB loans?

Please advise.

Bill Gavitt

Sunday 10:15

Gents,

Here is a further update on HR3997 and S1593 that were wrapped together by the Senate Finance Committee and now must go back to the House for approval.

If you go to senate.gov and to the Finance
Committee and click on Press Releases, there is one dated 12 Dec titled, “Baucus, Grassley win tax relief for America’s Military Men and Women.” On Page 2, it says, “Additional Changes made to the Baucus-Grassley bill include *A permanent allowance for all veterans to use qualified mortgage bonds to purchase their homes (Included in HR 3997).”

Question: Was what we were seeking (opening the QVMB loans to all Veterans and eliminating the drop-dead date) really eliminated by the Senate?
If it was, shouldn’t we be going back to both the House and the Senate?

I have been unable to find the text to S1593 as amended on 12 Dec. The one in Thomas is 12 June 07.

Please look into this and provide further guidance.

Thank you,

Bill Gavitt



on 20 Dec 2007 at 10:28 am   Warren Enos




Sent: Wednesday, December 19, 2007 8:32 AM
Subject: HR 3997

To All: Just a note of thanks from all of us at the California Department of Veterans Affairs for your quick response with letters and phone calls.

It is working.

The message is getting through about how significant this bill would be for the continued success and growth of our Cal Vet Home Loan program, especially for our younger veterans. Keep up the pressure. We’re on the 10 yard line and Congress is responding positively but we need to cross over the goal.

Thanks again for your response.

Tom Johnson, Secretary



on 21 Dec 2007 at 9:42 am   Warren Enos




Colleagues,

Please use the Holiday recess to keep this fix on the front burner. Thank our electeds, remind them of the importance of this fix to current Veterans who have served since the existing eligibility date of 1 January 1977. Remind them that making these QVMBs available will help the recovery of the slumping real estate market and the home mortgage crisis. Most of all, Remind them that home loans financed by these QVMBs will assist Veterans who have been defending America and our Freedoms at this perilous time in our history.

Thank you for your efforts. Do not forget those we are fighting for!

Bill Gavitt

20 Dec, 1315 PST

On behalf of Secretary Johnson and everyone here at the headquarters, I want to thank you for your unwavering support and valiant efforts in contacting the Senators and Congressmembers on the importance of HR3997 and its predecessor HR551.

In this last scrimmage between the Senate and the House we were able to get the Senate to agree with our desire to keep the QVMB provisions in the bill and it was ultimately supported by both houses.

However, in the final hours before their holiday break, there were a couple of unrelated issues that stalled the final approval of the bill and now it has to wait until after the first of the year.

The game is not over. Because of your efforts and many other people I know I have forgotten to copy, this is the furthest we have taken this effort in more than 15 years of trying! To use the football analogy — we were stopped at the goal line on third down and a timeout has been called, but there’s still time on the clock.

We are very close, as a matter of fact, according to our folks in Washington DC they could take action on this bill as early as February.

During this break and over the holidays we should celebrate the fact that we have cleared the biggest hurdle by getting both the Senate and the House to support the QVMB provisions; the fact that for the first time we garnered the full support of the California congressional delegation on this issue; and the strong belief that 2008 will be the year we save the QVMB/CalVet loans for our younger wartime veterans!!!

Thank you and may you all have a happy holiday and blessed new year

J.P. Tremblay
Deputy Secretary
Communications and Legislation
California Department of Veterans Affairs



on 21 Dec 2007 at 9:56 am   Warren Enos




First of all Thanks to Pete Conaty for the Update bringing the crux of the matter as defined to the forefront of the California Veterans Organizations.

The update and message files including the Governors’ letter tells us much about the multistate efforts we weren’t privey to beforehand.

Likewise I’m not aware of what emphasis our state Senators Feinstein & Boxer are applying on the issue. Hopefully, they will acknowledge their support and provide same to influence members of the Senate Finance Committee.

Thanks to Anthony Hardie
WDVA Executive Assistant
Office of the Secretary
Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs
For his concise dissertation on what’s involved.

Here’s what he’s provided to wit:

House

H.R. 3997 is expected to pass the House under suspension today (originally scheduled for yesterday), with the original QVMB provision as passed by the House on Dec. 6 included.

Attached is a decscription, legislative language, and revenue table for H.R. 3997 as being considered today by the House.

QVMB is included in Sec. 102, including an increase in the bonding caps for AK, OR, WI from $25m to $100m, and an extension of the definition of veteran for CA and TX to remove the pre-1977 service entry requirement.

It therefore appears likely at this time that H.R. 3997 will pass the House with the requested QVMB language for all five states included.

Senate

As we agreed in our 5-state teleconference last week, joint letters were circulating as of yesterday afternoon for signature, including a 5-state Governors’ letter and a 5-State Senators’ letter.

The Senate Finance Committee staff have met with the affected states’ Senate staff on the QVMB issue, and reportedly were now well aware of QVMB issues and its importance. Reportedly, the five states have weighed in in various ways to the committee as well.

However, while these combined efforts have hopefully helped to raise visibility and to underscore the legitimacy and critical importance of this issue, we have been informed this afternoon that the Senate Finance Committee is at this time continuing to resist the full QVMB measure, including the $100 million caps for AK, OR, WI. The reason(s) remain unclear.

Anthony also provided a copy of the letter from Alaska - California - Oregon - Wisconsin Governors requesting approval of this legislation. This in itself is a very significant indication of the importance of this measure. It’s the first time in my one third of a century involvement in Veterans stuff to see such a remarkable high level participation.

Although it’s only an imporant Veterans issue with 5 states I find it strange that National MOAA hasn’t uttered a word of support or a legislative alert, but neither apparently has National VFW, National American Legion or the Nations Military Coalition made this this an issue in support of the states involved, Truely sad!

If this no-brainer measure goes down in demise then all Veterans in the involved states must be made aware of how lack of appreciation by their elected representatives and their own Veterans Organizations for that matter let it happen.

But also by all means be appreciative and Thank the state Governors and their dedicated Veterans Staffs for their support as evidenced in the email message history.

CDR Bob Burke

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