Housing

Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011

United States · United States Congress · 23 December 2011

Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011 - Amends the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 to extend: (1) through 2012, the reduction in the rate of the self-employment tax for self-employed individuals; and (2) until February 29, 2012, the reduction in the employment tax rate for employees. Amends the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2008 with respect to the state-established individual emergency unemployment compensation account (EUCA). Extends the final date for entering a federal-state agreement under the Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) program through March 6, 2012. Amends the Assistance for Unemployed Workers and Struggling Families Act to extend until March 7, 2012, requirements that federal payments to states cover 100% of EUC. Amends the Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2008 to exempt weeks of unemployment between enactment of this Act and August 15, 2012, from the prohibition in the Federal-State Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970 (FSEUCA of 1970) against federal matching payments to a state for the first week in an individual's eligibility period for which extended compensation or sharable regular compensation is paid if the state law provides for payment of regular compensation to an individual for his or her first week of otherwise compensable unemployment. (Thus allows temporary federal matching for the first week of extended benefits for states with no waiting period.) Amends the FSEUCA of 1970 to postpone similarly from December 31, 2011, to February 29, 2012, termination of the period during which a state may determine its "on" and "off" indicators according to specified temporary substitutions in its formula. Amends the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act to extend through February 29, 2012, the temporary increase in extended unemployment benefits for employees with 10 or more years of service as well as for those with less than 10. Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to set the update to the single conversion factor in the formula for the physicians' fee schedule for the first two months of 2012 at zero (thus freezing the physician payment update for the first two months of 2011). Amends the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006, as modified by other federal law, to extend section 508 hospital reclassifications for two months through November 30, 2011. ("Section 508" refers to Section 508 of the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 [MMA], which allows the temporary reclassification of a hospital with a low Medicare area wage index, for reimbursement purposes, to a nearby location with a higher Medicare area wage index, so that the "Section 508 hospital" will receive the higher Medicare reimbursement rate.) Extends through February 29, 2012: (1) the 1.0 floor on geographic indexing adjustments to the work portion of the physician fee schedule, and (2) the process allowing exceptions to limitations on medically necessary therapy caps. Amends the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Benefits Improvement and Protection Act of 2000 to extend until February 29, 2012, an exception to a payment rule that permits laboratories to receive direct Medicare reimbursement when providing the technical component of certain physician pathology services that had been outsourced by certain (rural) hospitals. Amends SSA title XVIII to extend the bonus and increased payments for ground ambulance services until March 1, 2012. Amends the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 (MIPPA) to extend the payment of certain urban air ambulance services until February 29, 2012. Extends increased payments for super rural ambulance services until March 1, 2012. Amends MIPPA to extend the physician fee schedule mental health add-on payment provision through February 29, 2012. Extends through February 29, 2012, hold harmless provisions under the prospective payment system (PPS) for hospital outpatient department (OPD) services. Extends the minimum payment for bone mass measurement through the first two months of 2012. Amends SSA title XIX (Medicaid) to extend the Qualifying Individual (Q1) Program through February 29, 2012, at specified allocations. Extends the Transitional Medical Assistance (TMA) Program through February 29, 2012. Amends part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF) of title IV of the Social Security Act to extend the TANF program through February 29, 2012. Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 to require the Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) to require each government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) (the Federal National Mortgage Association [Fannie Mae] and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation [Freddie Mac]) to charge a guarantee fee in connection with any guarantee of the timely payment of principal and interests on securities, notes, and other obligations based on or backed by mortgages on residential real properties designed principally for the occupancy of from one to four families. Requires the FHFA Director to prohibit a GSE from consummating any offer for a guarantee to a lender for mortgage-backed securities if: (1) the guarantee is inconsistent with the requirements of this Act; or (2) the risk of loss is allowed to increase, through the lowering of the underwriting standards or other means, for the primary purpose of meeting the requirements of this Act. Amends the National Housing Act with respect to requirements for each mortgage secured by a one- to four-family dwelling that is an obligation of the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund. Directs the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), in addition to other required or authorized premiums, to establish and collect through FY2021 annual premium payments of up to 10 basis points of the remaining insured principal balance for any mortgage for which the Secretary collects an annual premium on the remaining insured principal balance. Directs the President, acting through the Secretary of State, to grant a permit for the Keystone XL pipeline project application filed on September 19, 2008. Waives such requirement if the President determines that the Keystone XL pipeline would not serve the national interest; but requires a written justification to certain congressional committees and officials. Declares that a permit for such pipeline shall take effect by operation of law if after 60 days following enactment of this Act the President fails to: (1) determine that the Keystone XL pipeline would not serve the national interest, or (2) grant the permit. Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to make it out of order in the Senate to consider a bill, resolution, amendment, motion, or conference report that includes an emergency designation. Permits waiver or suspension of such prohibition, or successful appeals from a ruling of the Chair, only by an affirmative vote of three-fifths (60) of the Senate.

Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011

United States · United States Congress · 20 December 2011

Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011 - Title I: Temporary Payroll Tax Relief - Amends the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 to: (1) extend through 2012 the 2% reduction in the self-employment tax rate for self-employment income not exceeding the excess of $18,350 over any wages and compensation paid to a self-employed taxpayer, and (2) extend through February 29, 2012, the 2% reduction in employment tax rates for employee wages and compensation not exceeding $18,350. Title II: Temporary Extension of Unemployment Compensation Provisions - Amends the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2008 with respect to the state-established individual emergency unemployment compensation account (EUCA). Extends the final date for entering a federal-state agreement under the Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) program through March 6, 2012. Postpones the termination of the program until August 15, 2012. Amends the Assistance for Unemployed Workers and Struggling Families Act to extend until March 7, 2012, requirements that federal payments to states cover 100% of EUC. Amends the Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2008 to exempt weeks of unemployment between enactment of this Act and August 15, 2012, from the prohibition in the Federal-State Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970 (FSEUCA of 1970) against federal matching payments to a state for the first week in an individual's eligibility period for which extended compensation or sharable regular compensation is paid if the state law provides for payment of regular compensation to an individual for his or her first week of otherwise compensable unemployment. (Thus allows temporary federal matching for the first week of extended benefits for states with no waiting period.) Amends the FSEUCA of 1970 to postpone similarly from December 31, 2011, to February 29, 2012, termination of the period during which a state may determine its "on" and "off" indicators according to specified temporary substitutions in its formula. Amends the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act, as amended by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the Worker, Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act of 2009, and the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010, to extend through February 29, 2012, the temporary increase in extended unemployment benefits for employees with 10 or more years of service as well as for those with less than 10 years. Title III: Temporary Extension of Health Provisions -Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to set the update to the single conversion factor in the formula for the physicians' fee schedules for the first two months of 2012 at zero (thus freezing the physician payment update for the first two months of 2012). Requires the conversion factor for the remaining portion of 2012 and subsequent years to be computed as if the zero update for the first two months of 2012 had never applied. Amends the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006, as modified by other federal law, to extend section 508 hospital reclassifications for two months through November 30, 2011. ("Section 508" refers to Section 508 of the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 [MMA], which allows the temporary reclassification of a hospital with a low Medicare area wage index, for reimbursement purposes, to a nearby location with a higher Medicare area wage index, so that the "Section 508 hospital" will receive the higher Medicare reimbursement rate.) Extends through February 29, 2012, the 1.0 floor on geographic indexing adjustments to the work portion of the physician fee schedule. Extends through February 29, 2012, the process allowing exceptions to limitations on medically necessary therapy caps. Amends the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Benefits Improvement and Protection Act of 2000 to extend until February 29, 2012, an exception to a payment rule that permits laboratories to receive direct Medicare reimbursement when providing the technical component of certain physician pathology services that had been outsourced by certain (rural) hospitals. Amends SSA title XVIII to extend the bonus and increased payments for ground ambulance services until March 1, 2012. Amends the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 (MIPPA) to extend the payment of certain urban air ambulance services until February 29, 2012. Extends increased payments for super rural ambulance services until March 1, 2012. Amends MIPPA to extend the physician fee schedule mental health add-on payment provision through February 29, 2012. Extends through February 29, 2012, hold harmless provisions under the prospective payment system (PPS) for hospital outpatient department (OPD) services. Extends the minimum payment for bone mass measurement through the first two months of 2012. Amends SSA title XIX (Medicaid) to extend the Qualifying Individual (QI) Program through February 29, 2012, at specified allocations. xtends the Transitional Medical Assistance (TMA) Program through February 29, 2012. Amends part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF) of SSA title IV to extend the TANF program through February 29, 2012. Title IV: Mortgage Fees and Premiums - Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 to require the Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) to require each government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) (the Federal National Mortgage Association [Fannie Mae] and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation [Freddie Mac]) to charge a guarantee fee in connection with any guarantee of the timely payment of principal and interest on securities, notes, and other obligations based on or backed by mortgages on residential real properties designed principally for the occupancy of from one to four families. Requires the FHFA Director to prohibit a GSE from consummating any offer for a guarantee to a lender for mortgage-backed securities if: (1) the guarantee is inconsistent with the requirements of this Act; or (2) the risk of loss is allowed to increase, through the lowering of the underwriting standards or other means, for the primary purpose of meeting the requirements of this Act. Requires direct deposit into the Treasury of any amounts received from fee increases imposed by this Act that are necessary to comply with the minimum increase required by this Act. Requires the Director to require each GSE, as part of its annual report, to: (1) describe changes made to up-front fees and annual fees as part of the guarantee fees negotiated with lenders, changes to the riskiness of the new borrowers compared to previous origination years or book years, and any adjustments required to improve for future origination years or book years, in order to be in complete compliance with guarantee fee requirements; and (2) assess how the changes in such guarantee fees met the requirements of this title. Amends the National Housing Act with respect to requirements for each mortgage secured by a 1- to 4-family dwelling that is an obligation of the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund. Directs the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), in addition to other required or authorized premiums, to establish and collect through FY2021 annual premium payments of up to 10 basis points of the remaining insured principal balance for any mortgage for which the Secretary collects an annual premium on the remaining insured principal balance. Title V: Other Provisions - Subtitle A: Keystone XL Pipeline - Directs the President, acting through the Secretary of State, to grant a permit for the Keystone XL pipeline project application filed on September 19, 2008. Waives such requirement if the President determines that the Keystone XL pipeline would not serve the national interest. Requires the President, in that case, to report to certain congressional committees and officials a justification for his determination, including consideration of economic, employment, energy security, foreign policy, trade, and environmental factors. Declares that a permit for such pipeline shall take effect by operation of law if after 60 days following enactment of this Act the President fails to: (1) determine that the Keystone XL pipeline would not serve the national interest, or (2) grant the permit. Subtitle B: Budgetary Provisions - Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to make it out of order in the Senate to consider a bill, resolution, amendment, motion, or conference report that includes an emergency designation. Permits waiver or suspension of such prohibition, or successful appeals from a ruling of the Chair, only by an affirmative vote of three-fifths (60 votes) of the Senate. Prohibits the budgetary effects of this Act from being entered on either PAYGO scorecard maintained pursuant to the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010.

Affordable Mortgage for Homeowners Act of 2011

United States · United States Congress · 19 December 2011

Affordable Mortgage for Homeowners Act of 2011 - Directs the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) each to carry out a program to provide for the reduction of the interest rates on qualified mortgage mortgages (other than fixed-rate or adjustable-rate mortgages) on single-family housing owned or guaranteed by such enterprises, in accordance with policies and procedures that the Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) shall establish. Requires each program to provide a procedure for mortgagors to opt-out of an interest rate reduction.

CINCH Demonstration Program Act

United States · United States Congress · 16 December 2011

Community Integrated Nursing Care Homes Demonstration Program Act or the CINCH Demonstration Program Act - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish the CINCH demonstration program to test the viability of multiple small-house nursing care homes that are embedded within residential neighborhoods and collectively certified to provide services through a single eligible operating entity in order to reduce administrative costs and provide cost savings to Medicare and Medicaid programs. Sets forth requirements a small-house nursing care home must meet to be eligible to participate, including requirements to: (1) be certified by a government entity to operate a nursing home; (2) operate in compliance with any direct care and certified nurse assistant staffing requirements under federal, state, and local law; (3) provide nursing home services that shall not be less comprehensive or high-acuity than services provided by the eligible operating entity within the immediate surrounding community; (4) provide for meals cooked in the nursing home; (5) meet specified staffing, care, service, and training levels; and (6) consist of a specified physical environment that is designed to look and feel like a home, rather than an institution. Directs the Secretary to: (1) conduct the program for a five-year period; (2) select up to six sites to participate, each to be operated by a different entity, with not less than two sites located in rural areas; (3) develop a process to allow a site, after the demonstration program, to continue operation through a single entity and to receive certification as a single provider for purposes of Medicare and Medicaid; and (4) select a technical assistance provider responsible for selecting, assisting, and evaluating the performance of eligible operating entities and ensuring that small-house nursing care homes satisfy this Act's requirements.

Order of the General Court (Seventh Chamber) of 16 December 2011.#Stichting Woonpunt and Others v European Commission.#State aid – Scheme of aid granted by the Netherlands to housing corporations – Existing aid – Decision accepting Member State’s commitments – Decision declaring new aid compatible – Action for annulment – Not individually concerned – No interest in bringing proceedings – Inadmissibility.#Case T-203/10.

European Union · Court of Justice of the European Union · 16 December 2011

Order of the General Court (Seventh Chamber) of 16 December 2011.#Stichting Woonlinie and Others v European Commission.#State aid - Scheme of aid granted by the Netherlands to housing corporations - Existing aid - Decision accepting Member State’s commitments - Action for annulment - Not individually concerned - Inadmissibility.#Case T-202/10.

European Union · Court of Justice of the European Union · 16 December 2011

Beantwoording vragen van de commissie over Verenigingen van Eigenaren

Netherlands · House of Representatives · 16 December 2011

Beantwoording vragen van de commissie over Verenigingen van Eigenaren

225 Deputy Joan Collins asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government further to Parliamentary Question No. 129 of 30 November 2011, the date on which refurbishment works commenced on the 12 housing units in the Cranmore Estate, Sligo; the date the refurbishment works will be completed; the date on which the units will be available for re-letting; the funding provided by him for the refurbishment of the 12 houses; if he will identify the ten houses which have been identified for future demolition under the regeneration project; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40654/11]

Ireland · Dáil Éireann · 15 December 2011

225 Deputy Joan Collins asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government further to Parliamentary Question No. 129 of 30 November 2011, the date on which refurbishment works commenced on the 12 housing units in the Cranmore Estate, Sligo; the date the refurbishment works will be completed; the date on which the units will be available for re-letting; the funding provided by him for the refurbishment of the 12 houses; if he will identify the ten houses which have been identified for future demolition under the regeneration project; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40654/11]

222 Deputy John Browne asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the total number of houses built and purchased by Wexford County Council each year for November 2007 to November 2011. [40646/11]

Ireland · Dáil Éireann · 15 December 2011

222 Deputy John Browne asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the total number of houses built and purchased by Wexford County Council each year for November 2007 to November 2011. [40646/11]

216 Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the number of persons who availed of the various affordable housing options from local authorities for each year from 2001. [40540/11]

Ireland · Dáil Éireann · 15 December 2011

216 Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the number of persons who availed of the various affordable housing options from local authorities for each year from 2001. [40540/11]

214 Deputy Alex White asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will review section 99 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 and section 10 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2002 pertaining to the clawback provision for affordable housing in view of the property crisis and the effects of the provision on those who bought affordable homes between the years 2004 and 2008. [40485/11]

Ireland · Dáil Éireann · 15 December 2011

214 Deputy Alex White asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will review section 99 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 and section 10 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2002 pertaining to the clawback provision for affordable housing in view of the property crisis and the effects of the provision on those who bought affordable homes between the years 2004 and 2008. [40485/11]

213 Deputy Ciarán Lynch asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide a list of ghost estates designated three and four; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40464/11]

Ireland · Dáil Éireann · 15 December 2011

213 Deputy Ciarán Lynch asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide a list of ghost estates designated three and four; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40464/11]

207 Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he will reverse the cuts to the external insulation grant for housing in view of the unemployment that it is creating and due to the fact that it will retard progress towards energy efficiency. [40415/11]

Ireland · Dáil Éireann · 15 December 2011

207 Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he will reverse the cuts to the external insulation grant for housing in view of the unemployment that it is creating and due to the fact that it will retard progress towards energy efficiency. [40415/11]

FHA Bailout Protection Act of 2011

United States · United States Congress · 15 December 2011

FHA Bailout Protection Act of 2011 - Amends the National Housing Act (NHA) to direct the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to take action to ensure that the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund attains and maintains a capital ratio of at least 2%. Includes among such actions: (1) increasing mortgage insurance premiums, (2) establishing more stringent underwriting standards, and (3) increasing the amount of cash (or its equivalent) required to be paid on account of the property subject to a mortgage. Directs the Secretary to raise annual insurance premiums and charge an additional risk-based annual insurance premium if: (1) the Fund fails to attain a capital ratio of 2% by a specified date or maintain it, or (2) the Fund's expected claims rate as set forth in the quarterly independent actuarial study is 10.0 or higher. Directs the Secretary to require a mortgagee to indemnify HUD for losses resulting from payment of an insurance claim with respect to a mortgage: (1) executed under the direct endorsement program or insured by the mortgagee pursuant to a delegation of authority, but (2) not originated or underwritten in accordance with HUD requirements. Requires indemnification also in the event that fraud or misrepresentation was involved in an origination or underwriting. Directs the Secretary of HUD to take any actions required to seek indemnification for any early term delinquency on a mortgage which: (1) is an obligation of the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund; and (2) at the time of origination was not in compliance with NHA requirements. Directs the Secretary of HUD to establish a program to review the cause of each early term delinquency on such a mortgage. Converts from annual to quarterly the frequency of an independent actuarial study of the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund. Amends the Federal Credit Reform Act of 1990 to prohibit the Secretary of the Treasury from entering into specified transactions with the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund.

National Cooperative Development Act

United States · United States Congress · 15 December 2011

National Cooperative Development Act - Directs the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to: (1) establish a National Cooperative Development Program to create jobs and increase economic development in underserved areas by promoting cooperative development; and (2) select, through a competitive process and enter into a grant agreement with, a national cooperative development center. Defines "cooperative organization" as an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically controlled enterprise. Defines "cooperative development" as specified technical assistance for the establishment of cooperative organizations. Requires the national center to select local cooperative development centers. Authorizes the national center to establish up to three local cooperative development centers in each of FY2012-FY2016.

Mogelijkheden voor onderzoek naar scheefwonen in de regio's als Amsterdam en Utrecht en het toetsen ervan met behulp van CBS-statistieken

Netherlands · House of Representatives · 15 December 2011

Mogelijkheden voor onderzoek naar scheefwonen in de regio's als Amsterdam en Utrecht en het toetsen ervan met behulp van CBS-statistieken

Uitvoering motie Karabulut en Voortman (32500 VII, nr. 52)over de aankoop door woningcorporaties van woningen van kopers met financiële problemen

Netherlands · House of Representatives · 15 December 2011

Uitvoering motie Karabulut en Voortman (32500 VII, nr. 52)over de aankoop door woningcorporaties van woningen van kopers met financiële problemen

219 Deputy Patrick O’Donovan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality, further to Parliamentary Question No. 369 of 29 November 2011 and Parliamentary Question No. 31 of 7 December 2011, if in a situation in which a property management company has gone into liquidation and the housing estate has not been taken in charge by the local authority, he will confirm that the legal responsibility for the ongoing maintenance and carrying out of repairs lies with the liquidator. [40214/11]

Ireland · Dáil Éireann · 14 December 2011

219 Deputy Patrick O’Donovan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality, further to Parliamentary Question No. 369 of 29 November 2011 and Parliamentary Question No. 31 of 7 December 2011, if in a situation in which a property management company has gone into liquidation and the housing estate has not been taken in charge by the local authority, he will confirm that the legal responsibility for the ongoing maintenance and carrying out of repairs lies with the liquidator. [40214/11]

A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to make permanent the minimum low-income housing tax credit rate for unsubsidized buildings and to provide a minimum 4 percent credit rate for existing buildings.

United States · United States Congress · 14 December 2011

Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) make permanent the the minimum low-income housing tax credit rate for new buildings that are not federally subsidized, and (2) establish a minimum 4% low-income housing tax rate for existing buildings that are not federally subsidized.

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to make permanent and expand the temporary minimum credit rate for the low-income housing tax credit program.

United States · United States Congress · 14 December 2011

Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) make permanent the low-income housing tax rate for new buildings that are not federally subsidized, and (2) establish a minimum 4% low-income tax credit rate for existing buildings that are not federally subsidized.

Motie Van Gerven over 100% duurzame nieuwbouw van stallen

Netherlands · House of Representatives · 14 December 2011

Motie Van Gerven over 100% duurzame nieuwbouw van stallen

Act for the 99%

United States · United States Congress · 13 December 2011

Restore the American Dream for the 99% Act or Act for the 99% - Title I: Emergency Job Creation to Rebuild America - Emergency Jobs to Restore the American Dream Act - Directs the Secretary of Education to make grants to states for: (1) subgrants to local education agencies (LEAs) to modernize, renovate, or repair public school facilities; and (3) grants to pay maintenance costs. Requires LEAs to use such funds, to the maximum extent practicable, for green schools. Authorizes appropriations to the Secretary for grants to institutions of higher education for an additional 250,000 part-time work-study jobs for students (Student Jobs Corps). Authorizes appropriations to the Secretary of Agriculture and to the Secretary of the Interior to create additional 100,000 positions in the Public Lands Corps. Authorizes the President to establish a Civilian Conservation Corps for specified activities in federal or state lands. Authorizes appropriations for: (1) a Teacher Corps in elementary and secondary schools; (2) a Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program to hire an additional 40,000 state, local, and tribal career law enforcement officers; (3) a Firefighters Corps program to hire an additional 12,000 firefighters; and (4) a Community Corps to create an additional 750,000 jobs to perform energy audits, conservation upgrades, recycling, initial demanufacturing activities, urban land reclamation, rural conservation, public property maintenance and beautification, housing rehabilitation, and new housing construction. Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to grant financial assistance to health care or long-term care (LTC) providers to pay the costs of hiring and retaining additional health care or LTC professionals (Health Care Corps). Amends the Head Start Act to direct the Secretary of HHS to provide funds to Early Head Start programs to hire additional infant and toddler specialists. Makes appropriations to the Employment and Training Administration of the Department of Labor solely for on-the-job training. Buy American Enhancement Act of 2011 - Prescribes Buy American requirements for items purchased under this Act. Fairness and Transparency in Contracting Act of 2011 - Amends the Small Business Act to redefine independently owned and operated small business concerns to exclude publicly traded business concerns and subsidiaries as well as foreign-owned business concerns and subsidiaries. Requires the Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA) to report annually on prime federal contracts awarded to small business concerns for the purposes of achieving specified small business contracting goals of the federal government. National Infrastructure Development Bank Act of 2011 - Establishes the National Infrastructure Development Bank (NIDB) as a wholly owned government corporation to provide financial assistance for transportation, environmental, energy, and telecommunications infrastructure projects of regional or national significance contributing to economic growth and job creation. Wounded Veteran Job Security Act - Amends the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA) to include as service in the uniformed services any period for which a person is absent from a position of employment for the purpose of obtaining medical treatment for a service-connected injury or illness or one for which a "line of duty" document has been granted by the Secretary of Defense (DOD). Prescribes documentation requirements for an applicant for reemployment due to an absence for the purpose of obtaining such medical treatment. Emergency Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2011 - Amends the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2008 to extend until January 4, 2013, any federal-state agreement to make emergency unemployment compensation (EUC) payments. Amends the Assistance for Unemployed Workers and Struggling Families Act to extend until January 4, 2013, full federal funding of extended unemployment compensation. Emergency Unemployment Compensation Expansion Act of 2011 - Amends the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2008 to authorize a state, if implementation of first-tier EUC would unduly delay the prompt EUC payments, to elect to pay second-tier, third-tier, or fourth-tier EUC. Currency Reform for Fair Trade Act - Amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to include as a "countervailable subsidy" requiring action under a countervailing duty or antidumping duty proceeding the benefit conferred on merchandise imported into the United States from foreign countries with fundamentally undervalued currency. Prioritize Emergency Job Creation Act - Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) with respect to the designation of FY2012-FY2021 appropriations for discretionary accounts for emergency job creation. Fair Employment Opportunity Act of 2011 - Declares it an unlawful practice for certain employers with at least 15 employees for each working day in each of at least 20 calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year to: (1) refuse to consider or offer employment to an individual based on present or past unemployment regardless of the length of time such individual was unemployed; (2) publish an advertisement or announcement for any job with provisions indicating that such an unemployed status disqualifies an individual and that an employer will not consider an applicant based on such status; and (3) direct or request that an employment agency account for such status when screening or referring applicants. Prohibits an employment agency (including agents and persons maintaining a website publishing job advertisements or announcements), based on such an individual's status as unemployed, from: (1) refusing to consider or refer an individual for employment; (2) limiting, segregating, or classifying individuals in any manner limiting access to job information; or (3) publishing an advertisement or announcement for any job vacancy that includes provisions indicating that such an individual is disqualified and that an employer will not consider such individuals. New Jobs for America Act of 2011 - Directs the Secretary of Labor, subject to the availability of appropriations, to make grants to state and local governments and Indian tribes to carry out employment training programs to aid unemployed individuals in securing employment in a new area of expertise, particularly in emerging markets and industries (such as green technologies). Makes certain funds available to the Secretary of Transportation (DOT) for restoration, repair, construction, and other eligible surface transportation activities as well as for passenger and freight rail transportation and port infrastructure projects. Jobs NOW Act - Amends title IV part A (Grants to States for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to establish in the Treasury the Emergency Contingency Fund for State Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Programs. Amends the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act to repeal new discretionary spending limits. Title II: Responsible Savings and Fair Taxation - Responsible End to the War in Afghanistan Act - Limits the obligation and expenditure of funds for operations of the Armed Forces in Afghanistan to the safe and orderly withdrawal from Afghanistan of all members of the Armed Forces and Department of Defense (DOD) contractor personnel. Defense and Deficit Reduction Act - Freezes the aggregate amount of funds made available for DOD-administered military functions (other than military personnel pay, health benefits, and drug interdiction and counter-drug activities) at: (1) the FY2008 level for FY2011, and (2) the previous fiscal year level for each of FY2012-FY2016. Places a permanent ceiling of 30,000 per fiscal year (with certain exceptions) on the end strength level of members of the Armed Forces assigned to permanent onshore duty in Europe and corresponding general end strength reductions. Specifies the breakdown of end strength levels for each of the services. Terminates the V-22 Osprey aircraft program as of FY2012. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to raise the basic range of income taxed at: (1) 15% from a maximum of $36,900 to a maximum of $69,000, (2) 28% from $36,900-$89,150 to $69,000-$139,350, (3) 31% from S89,150-$140,000 to $212,300-$379,150, (4) from $140,000-$ 250,000 to $379,150-$1 million, and (5) $39.6% from $250,000-and-over to $1 million-$10 million. Prescribes new tax rates of 45%, 46%, 47%, 48%, and 49% for specified income levels above $10 million to $1 billion-and-over. Specifies the breakdown of such tax rates for heads of households, unmarried individuals, and married individuals filing separate returns. Prescribes a special rule for recapture of lower capital gains rates for individuals subject to at least a 45% rate bracket. End Big Oil Tax Subsidies Act of 2011 - Revises requirements for the amortization of geological and geophysical expenditures to convert the special tax rule for major integrated oil companies into a special rule for covered large oil companies (a major integrated oil company or a taxpayer with taxable year gross receipts exceeding $50 million. Denies taxpayers who are not small, independent oil and gas companies: (1) the tax credit for production of oil and gas from marginal wells, (2) the enhanced oil recovering tax credit, (3) the deduction for the intangible drilling and development costs of oil and gas wells, (4) the percentage depletion allowance, (5) the deduction for tertiary injectant expenses, (6) the exclusion from (and consequently subjection to) the disallowance passive activity losses and credits, and (7) the deduction for a portion of income derived from domestic production activities. Prohibits a major integrated oil company from using last-in, first-out (LIFO) tax accounting. Prescribes a special rule to deny to a dual capacity taxpayer a foreign tax credit for certain amounts paid or accrued to a foreign country or U.S. possession with respect to combined foreign oil and gas income. Superfund Reinvestment Act - Amends the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA) to authorize the use of amounts in the Hazardous Substance Superfund for environmental cleanup costs authorized by such Act. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to reinstate until December 31, 2018, the Hazardous Substance Superfund financing rate and the corporate environmental income tax and extend the borrowing authority of the Superfund through 2021. Wall Street Trading and Speculators Tax Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose a .03% excise tax on the purchase of a security: (1) if such purchase occurs on a trading facility located in the United States, or (2) the purchaser or seller is a U.S. person. Extends through calendar year 2012 the making work pay tax credit. Employee Misclassification Prevention Act - Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) to require every person to: (1) keep records of non-employees (contractors) who perform labor or services (except substitute work), including through an entity such as a trust, estate, partnership, association, company, or corporation, for remuneration; and (2) provide certain notice to each new employee and new non-employee, including classification as an employee or non-employee and information concerning their rights under the law. Makes it unlawful for any person to: (1) discharge or otherwise discriminate against an individual (including an employee) who has opposed any practice, or filed a complaint or instituted any proceeding related to this Act, including with respect to an individual's status as an employee or non-employee; and (2) fail to classify accurately an employee or non-employee. Doubles the amount of liquidated damages for maximum hours, minimum wage, and notice of classification violations by an employer. Directs the Secretary of Labor to establish a page on the Department of Labor website that summarizes the rights of employees under this Act. Amends SSA to require, as a condition for a federal grant for the administration of state unemployment compensation, for the state's unemployment compensation law to include a provision for: (1) auditing programs that identify employers that have not registered under the state law or that are paying unreported compensation where the effect is to exclude employees from unemployment compensation coverage, and (2) establishing administrative penalties for misclassifying employees or paying unreported unemployment compensation to employees. Corporate Assets Should be Used to Hire Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose on domestic corporations in taxable years beginning in 2011 or 2012 an additional 40% tax on the excess of their retained earnings over their average retained earnings for the preceding 3 taxable years. Exempts certain corporations from such tax, including corporations with retained earnings of less than $5 million in a taxable year. Title III: Protect and Strengthen Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid - Public Option Deficit Reduction Act - Amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to offer through Exchanges a health benefits plan (public health insurance option) that ensures choice, competition, and stability of affordable, high-quality coverage throughout the United States. Requires the Secretary to: (1) establish an office of the ombudsman for the public health insurance option, and (2) establish geographically adjusted premiums at a level sufficient to fully finance the costs of the health benefits provided and related administrative costs. Requires repayment of start-up costs for the public health insurance option. Medicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act of 2011 - Amends part D (Voluntary Prescription Drug Benefit Program) of SSA title XVIII (Medicare) to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to negotiate with pharmaceutical manufacturers the prices that may be charged to Medicare part D prescription drug plan (PDP) sponsors and MedicareAdvantage (MA) organizations for covered part D drugs for part D eligible individuals who are enrolled under a PDP or under an MA-Prescription Drug (MA-PD) plan. Medicaid Enhancement and Emergency Job Creation Act of 2011 - Amends the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2011 (ARRA) to extend through FY2012 the increase in the federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP) under SSA title XIX (Medicaid). Keeping Our Social Security Promises Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to apply employment and self-employment taxes to remuneration up to the contribution and benefit base and to remuneration in excess of $250,000.

Community Partners Neighborhood Preservation Act of 2011

United States · United States Congress · 13 December 2011

Community Partners Neighborhood Preservation Act of 2011 - Amends the National Housing Act to provide: (1) a 50% discount for teachers and public safety officers purchasing certain eligible asset properties for use as their primary residence during a certain period of fiscal years, and (2) a $100 downpayment on any related insured mortgage. Authorizes such sales directly to a qualifying individual or to a unit of local government or a nonprofit organization for resale to such individual. Expresses the sense of Congress that the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) should consult with the heads of other federal agencies that own or hold properties appropriate for use as housing to determine the possibility and effectiveness of including such properties in programs that make housing available for law enforcement officers, teachers, or fire fighters. Makes a public safety officer or teacher eligible to purchase any property owned or held by the Secretary pursuant to: (1) foreclosure of any HUD-insured mortgage; or (2) assignment of the mortgage, deed in lieu of foreclosure, conveyance of title, or any other acquisition of the property or mortgage in connection with the payment of insurance benefits by the Secretary. Directs the Secretary to revise the Good Neighbor Next Door Initiative to provide that the subordinate mortgage on the property of a mortgagor who purchased it under the Initiative shall be released in any case in which the mortgagor loses his or her employment position as a law enforcement officer, teacher, firefighter, or emergency medical technician as a result of any reductions in force or other reason other than dismissal for cause. Directs the Secretary of HUD, in making any real estate owned by HUD available for purchase, to provide a preference for purchase by public safety officers and teachers.

Private Mortgage Market Investment Act

United States · United States Congress · 13 December 2011

Private Mortgage Market Investment Act - Directs the Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) to prescribe classifications for mortgages having various degrees of credit risk, ranging from those with little to no credit risk to those with higher credit risk, with the goals of: (1) maximizing the pricing of credit risk, (2) allowing for the trading of securities collateralized by such classifications in a forward market, and (3) maintaining well functioning liquid markets in such collateralized securities. Requires the Director to establish standards for specified categories of underwriting criteria for each classification of mortgages depending on degree of credit risk. Requires the Director to develop, adopt, and publish standard form securitization agreements for mortgages established under this Act, according to specified criteria. Directs the Director to develop standards for: (1) servicer reporting obligations with respect to any mortgage serving as collateral for a qualified security; (2) servicing, including a servicer succession plan; (3) documentation used to verify the financial resources of a mortgagor, and to qualify the mortgagor for any mortgage that may become collateral for a qualified security; and (4) qualified sponsors. Requires there to be at all times one or more trustees for each pool of mortgages that acts as collateral for a qualified security. Imposes certain duties on each trustee for the purpose of protecting investor rights. Subjects to mandatory arbitration all disputes between an owner of a qualified security and the qualified sponsor of such security relating to representations and warranties. Requires the Director to require sponsors of qualified securities to: (1) disclose all pertinent information relating to residential mortgage loans that constitute such securities, and (2) allow for the trading of qualified securities under this Act in a forward market. Amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to repeal credit risk retention requirements. Amends the Securities Act of 1933 to exempt from registration requirements any qualified security conforming to standard securitization agreements under this Act. Subjects orders of the FHFA to judicial review in the same manner, upon the same conditions, and to the same extent, as the orders of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Subjects to civil liability any person who makes or causes to be made any statement false or misleading with respect to any material fact, or who omits to state any required material fact, with respect to securities purchased or sold under this Act. Makes it unlawful for any person in offering, selling, or issuing any security pursuant to this Act to represent or imply in any manner that any FHFA action or failure to act means that the FHFA has in any way passed upon the merits of, or given approval to, any trustee, indenture, or security, or any related transaction or transactions. Makes it unlawful also to represent or imply that any such FHFA action or failure to act with regard to any statement or report filed with or examined by the FHFA has the effect of an FHFA finding that the statement or report is true or inaccurate on its face or that is is not false or misleading. Subjects violations of this Act to criminal penalties of the Trust Indenture Act of 1934. Sets forth requirements for the disclosure of loan-level information to investors, relating agencies, and regulators. Requires the SEC to revise its rules and regulations to require sponsors of asset-backed securities to file a preliminary prospectus containing all material terms of the transaction at least five days before investors make an investment decision. Directs the SEC to require: (1) the dissemination of transaction, volume, and pricing information of trades in asset-backed securities; and (2) the assignment of a unique alphanumeric code to each mortgage loan involving a residential mortgage-backed security. Grants the servicer of a securitized senior mortgage loan the right to charge the borrower an additional monthly fee if the borrower, with respect to the dwelling serving as security for the loan, enters into any credit transaction that would otherwise result in the creation of a new mortgage or other lien on the dwelling if the loan-to-value ratio of the credit transaction amount is 80% or more. Prohibits the servicer of a residential mortgage loan (or an affiliate) from owning or holding any interest in any other residential mortgage loan secured by the same dwelling or residential real property. Amends the Truth in Lending Act to: (1) revise the exception of qualified residential mortgage loans from the requirement that creditor make a reasonable and good faith determination based on verified and documented information that, at the time a loan is consummated, the consumer has a reasonable ability to repay it; and (2) direct specified agencies to prescribe rules defining the types of loans they insure, guarantee, or administer, as the case may be, that are qualified mortgages. Declares that the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) safe harbor rule shall apply to any pool of mortgages that meets FHFA standards and is securitized in accordance with them.

Opinion of Advocate General Bot delivered on 13 December 2011.#Servet Kamberaj v Istituto per l’Edilizia Sociale della Provincia autonoma di Bolzano (IPES) and Others.#Reference for a preliminary ruling from the Tribunale di Bolzano.#Area of Freedom, Justice and Security — Article 34 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union — Directive 2003/109/EC — Status of third-country nationals who are long-term residents — Right to equal treatment with regard to social security, social assistance and social protection — Derogation from the principle of equal treatment for social assistance and social protection measures — Exclusion of ‘core benefits’ from the scope of that derogation — National legislation providing for housing benefit for low income tenants — Amount of funds for third-country nationals determined on the basis of a different weighted average — Rejection of an application for housing benefit owing to the exhaustion of the funds for third-country nationals.#Case C‑571/10.

European Union · Court of Justice of the European Union · 13 December 2011

Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012

United States · United States Congress · 9 December 2011

Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2011 - Title I: Job Creation Incentives - North American Energy Security Act - Directs the President, acting through the Secretary of State, to grant a permit for the Keystone XL pipeline project application filed on September 19, 2008. Waives such requirement if the President determines that the Keystone XL pipeline would not serve the national interest. Requires the President, in that case, to report to certain congressional committees and officials a justification for his determination, including consideration of economic, employment, energy security, foreign policy, trade, and environmental factors. Declares that a permit for such pipeline shall take effect by operation of law if after 60 days following enactment of this Act the President fails to: (1) determine that the Keystone XL pipeline would not serve the national interest, or (2) grant the permit. EPA Regulatory Relief Act of 2011 - Provides that the following rules shall have no force or effect and shall be treated as though they had never taken effect: (1) the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for Major Sources: Industrial, Commercial, and Institutional Boilers and Process Heaters; (2) the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for Area Sources: Industrial, Commercial, and Institutional Boilers; (3) the Standards of Performance for New Stationary Sources and Emission Guidelines for Existing Sources: Commercial and Industrial Solid Waste Incineration Units; and (4) Identification of Non-Hazardous Secondary Materials That are Solid Waste. Requires the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in place of such rules, to promulgate and finalize on the date that is 15 months after enactment of this Act regulations for industrial, commercial, and institutional boilers and process heaters and commercial and industrial solid waste incinerator units subject to such rules, that: (1) establish maximum achievable control technology standards, performance standards, and other requirements for hazardous air pollutants or solid waste combustion under the Clean Air Act; and (2) identify non-hazardous secondary materials that, when used as fuels or ingredients in combustion units of such boilers, heaters, or incinerator units, are solid waste under the Solid Waste Disposal Act for purposes of determining the extent to which such combustion units are required to meet emission standards for such pollutants under such Act. Requires the Administrator to establish a date for compliance with standards and requirements under such regulations, which shall be no earlier than five years after such a regulation's effective date, after considering compliance costs, non-air quality health and environmental impacts and energy requirements, the feasibility of implementation, the availability of equipment, suppliers, and labor, and potential net employment impacts. Treats the date on which the Administrator proposes such a regulation establishing an emission standard as the proposal date for purposes of applying the definition of a "new source" to hazardous air pollutants requirements or of a "new solid waste incineration unit" to solid waste combustion requirements under the Clean Air Act. Requires the Administrator, in promulgating such regulations, to: (1) adopt the definitions of "commercial and industrial solid waste incineration unit," "commercial and industrial waste," and "contained gaseous material" in the rule entitled "Standards for Performance of New Stationary Sources and Emission Guidelines for Existing Sources: Commercial and Industrial Solid Waste Incineration Units"; (2) identify non-hazardous secondary material to be solid waste only if the material meets such a definition; (3) ensure that emissions standards for existing and new sources can be met under actual operating conditions consistently and concurrently with emission standards for all other air pollutants regulated by the rule for the source category, taking into account variability in actual source performance, source design, fuels, inputs, controls, ability to measure the pollutant emissions, and operating conditions; and (4) impose the least burdensome regulatory alternative. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) extend through 2012 the increased (100%) bonus depreciation allowance for depreciable business assets; and (2) expand the election to accelerate alternative minimum tax (AMT) credits in lieu of bonus depreciation by allowing corporate taxpayers to claim 20% of depreciation not claimed as bonus depreciation, limited to the lesser of unused AMT credit amounts from taxable years ending before January 1, 2012, or 50% of the AMT credit for the first taxable year ending after December 31, 2011. Title II: Extension of Certain Expiring Provisions and Related Measures - Amends the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 to extend through 2012 the 2% reduction in employment tax rates for employees and the self-employed. Extended Benefits, Reemployment, and Program Integrity Improvement Act - Amends title III (Grants to States for Unemployment Compensation Administration) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to require state unemployment compensation laws to require, as a condition of eligibility for regular compensation for any week, that an unemployment compensation claimant be able to work, available to work, and actively seeking work. Requires a claimant to meet minimum educational requirements, that is, to: (1) have earned a high school diploma, (2) have earned the General Educational Development (GED) credential or other state-recognized equivalent (including by meeting recognized alternative standards for individuals with disabilities), or (3) be enrolled and making satisfactory progress in classes leading to satisfaction of one of the latter requirements. Authorizes waiver of such requirements for an individual by a state agency if they would be unduly burdensome. Authorizes the Secretary of Labor to enter into agreements with up to 10 states to conduct demonstration projects to test and evaluate measures designed to: (1) expedite the reemployment of individuals who establish initial eligibility for unemployment compensation under state law, or (2) improve the effectiveness of a state in carrying out its state law with respect to reemployment. Directs the Secretary to: (1) develop model language that may be used by states in enacting self-employment assistance programs; (2) provide technical assistance to states in establishing, improving, and administering them; and (3) establish reporting requirements for states in regards to such programs. Amends the Internal Revenue Code and the SSA title III to require states (which, currently, are merely authorized) to reduce current unemployment benefits to recover prior unemployment benefit overpayments. Amends the SSA to authorize a state to reduce current unemployment benefits to recover prior federal additional compensation overpayments and prior unemployment benefit overpayments of another state. Amends the SSA title IX (Miscellaneous Provisions Relating to Employment Security) to require the Secretary to designate standard data elements for any category of information required for data matching in the federal-state unemployment insurance system. Amends the SSA title III to declare that nothing in any federal law shall be considered to prevent a state from: (1) testing an applicant for unemployment compensation for the unlawful use of controlled substances as a condition for receiving such compensation, or (2) denying the compensation on the basis of test results. Unemployment Benefits Extension Act of 2011 - Amends the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2008 (SSA, 2008) with respect to the state-established individual emergency unemployment compensation account (EUCA). Extends the final date for entering a federal-state agreement under the Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) program through January 31, 2013. Repeals current transitional requirements for an individual's remaining EUCA payments. Revises the formula for crediting Tier-1 and Tier-2 amounts to an applicant's EUCA. Eliminates Tier-3 and Tier-4 augmentation to an individual's EUCA. Repeals requirements authorizing a state governor in an extended benefit period, if state law permits, to provide for the payment of EUC before extended compensation to individuals who otherwise meet EUC requirements. Denies the application of a federal-state agreement to a state upon a determination by the Secretary that, under the state law or its applicable rule, the payment of extended compensation for which an individual is otherwise eligible may or must be deferred until after the payment of any EUC under the SSA, 2008, as amended by this Act, for which the individual is concurrently eligible. Amends the Assistance for Unemployed Workers and Struggling Families Act to extend until January 31, 2013, requirements that federal payments to states cover 100% of EUC. Amends the Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2008 to exempt weeks of unemployment between enactment of this Act and January 31, 2013, from the prohibition in the Federal-State Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970 (FSEUCA of 1970) against federal matching payments to a state for the first week in an individual's eligibility period for which extended compensation or sharable regular compensation is paid if the state law provides for payment of regular compensation to an individual for his or her first week of otherwise compensable unemployment. (Thus allows temporary federal matching for the first week of extended benefits for states with no waiting period.) Amends the FSEUCA of 1970 to postpone similarly from December 31, 2011, to January 31, 2013, termination of the period during which a state may determine its "on" and "off" indicators according to specified temporary substitutions in its formula. Amends the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act, as amended by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the Worker, Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act of 2009, and the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010, to extend through January 31, 2012, the temporary increase in extended unemployment benefits for employees with 10 or more years of service as well as for those with less than 10. Amends the SSA, 2008 to allow a state agency to make EUC payments to individuals who are able to work, available to work, and actively seeking work. Includes in a federal-state agreement a requirement that a state provide reemployment services and reemployment eligibility assessment activities to certain recipients of EUC. Conditions an individual's continuing eligibility for EUC for any week on whether such individual: (1) meets the minimum SSA title III educational requirements; (2) participates in referred reemployment services; (3) is actively seeking work; and (4) has been referred to such services or activities and participated, or has completed such participation, unless there is justifiable cause for failure to do so. Authorizes a state to withhold up to $5 from an individual's weekly EUC payment for optional funding for such services and activities. Authorizes the Secretary to enter into an agreement with a state to allow it to divert, in any month, up to 20% of EUC beneficiaries, attributable to such state and receiving EUC for the first week of such month, to conduct demonstration projects to test and evaluate measures designed to: (1) expedite the reemployment of individuals who establish initial eligibility for unemployment compensation under state law, or (2) improve the effectiveness of a state in carrying out its state law with respect to reemployment. Requires a state agency (which, currently, is merely authorized) to recover an EUC overpayment to an individual by deductions from such individual's EUC payment during the three-year period after such individual received the EUC payment to which he or she was not entitled. Requires each deduction to be at least (currently, at most) 50% of the weekly benefit amount from which it is made, unless the amount to be repaid is less than 50% of that amount. Repeals the requirement (nonreduction rule) that makes a federal-state agreement inapplicable for a state upon a determination by the Secretary that the method governing the computation of regular compensation under state law has been modified in a certain manner. Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to establish at 1.0% for 2012 and 2013 only the Medicare physician payment update to the single conversion factor in the formula for determining relative values for physicians' services. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to examine options for bundled or episode-based payments to cover physicians' services, currently paid under the Medicare physician fee schedule, for one or more prevalent chronic conditions (such as cancer, diabetes, and congestive heart failure) or episodes of care for one or more major procedures (such as medical device implantation). Directs the Comptroller General (GAO) to examine initiatives of private entities offering or administering health insurance coverage, group health plans, or other private health benefit plans to base or adjust physician payment rates under such coverage or plans for performance on quality and efficiency as well as demonstration of care delivery improvement activities. Directs the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MEDPAC) to examine the feasibility of aligning private payer quality and efficiency programs with those in the Medicare program. Directs specified congressional committees each to study value-based measures and practice arrangements which may improve health outcomes and efficiency in the Medicare program to the end of replacing the Medicare sustainable growth rate in a fiscally responsible manner and establishing a sustainable payment system. Extends through 2012 the temporary increase for ground ambulance services. Extends through 2012 the increase in the assistance for rural providers furnishing (super rural ambulance) services in low population density areas. Directs the Comptroller General to update the GAO report GAO-07-383 (relating to Ambulance Providers: Costs and Expected Medicare Margins Vary Greatly) to reflect current costs for ambulance providers. Directs MEDPAC to study the add-on payments for ambulance providers. Applies additional requirements with respect to Medicare payment for outpatient therapy services. Directs MEDPAC to make recommendations on how to improve the outpatient therapy benefit under Medicare part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance). Extends through 2012 the floor at 1.0 on the work geographic index in the formula for determining relative values for physicians' services for the Medicare physician payment. Directs MEDPAC to assess whether any geographic adjustment is needed under Medicare to distinguish the difference in work effort by geographic area, and if so, what that level should be and were it should be applied. Amends SSA title XIX (Medicaid) to extend: (1) the qualifying individual (QI) program through 2012, and (2) the total amount available for allocation under such program. Extends transitional medical assistance (TMA) through 2012. Modifies requirements for qualifying for exception to the Medicare prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase the limitation on recapture of excess advance payments of the tax credit for health insurance premiums. Reduces the funding to the Prevention and Public Health Fund for FY2013, and eliminates it for FY2014-FY2015 and subsequent fiscal years. Revises the formula for determining the Medicare hospital outpatient department (OPD) payment amount for specified evaluation and management services. Amends SSA title XVIII to reduce the amount of bad debt treated as an allowable cost in the determination for FY2013-FY2014 and subsequent fiscal years of reasonable costs for hospitals and skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) under Medicare. Amends SSA title XIX to authorize rebasing (reduction) of state disproportionate share hospital (DHS) allotments for FY2021. Welfare Integrity and Data Improvement Act - Amends part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF) of SSA title IV to extend the TANF program through FY2012. Directs the Secretary of HHS to designate standard data elements for any category of information required to be reported under TANF. Requires states to maintain policies and practices necessary to prevent the use of state TANF assistance in any transaction in any: (1) liquor store; (2) casino, gambling casino, or gaming establishment; or (3) retail establishment which provides adult-oriented entertainment in which performers disrobe or perform in an unclothed state for entertainment. Title III: Flood Insurance Reform - Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2011 - Amends the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (NFIA) to extend the National Flood Insurance Program through FY2016. Amends the Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973 to authorize the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to suspend temporarily the mandatory flood insurance purchase requirement for areas with special flood hazards, if they meet certain eligibility requirements. Requires a lender or servicer who receives confirmation of a borrower's existing flood insurance coverage to terminate force-placed insurance and refund to the borrower all force-placed insurance premiums. Requires each federal entity for lending regulation to direct regulated lending institutions to accept private flood insurance if it meets federal flood insurance requirements. Requires each federal agency lender, as well as the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac), to accept private flood insurance as satisfaction of the flood insurance purchase requirement if it meets such requirements. Amends NFIA to prescribe minimum annual flood insurance deductibles for subsidized rate and for actuarial rate properties. Revises the requirement that additional flood insurance in excess of specified limits be made available to any residential building for which the risk premium is determined in accordance with certain requirements so as to enable the insured or insurance applicant to receive coverage up to an aggregate liability of $250,000. Specifies that such additional flood insurance be made available only to a residential building designed for the occupancy of from one to four families. Applies the $250,000 aggregate flood insurance liability to any single building of that description. Makes technical revisions to analogous requirements for additional flood insurance in the case of any nonresidential building, including a church. Prescribes optional coverage for loss of use of personal residence and business interruption. Requires flood insurance regulations to allow installment payments of flood insurance premiums. Specifies the coverage of a new flood insurance policy on properties affected by floods in progress during the 30-day waiting period before the policy's effective date. Raises the annual limitation on premium increases from 10% to 20% of the average of the risk premium rates. Schedules a five-year phase-in of chargeable risk premium rates for flood insurance coverage for a newly mapped risk premium rate area. Prohibits extension of subsidized rates for policies lapsed as a result of policy holder's choice. Declares communities making adequate progress at reconstruction or improvement to 100-year frequency flood protection systems eligible for premium flood insurance rates that would apply if the reconstruction or improvement were completed. Revises requirements for special flood hazard rates for a community in the process of restoring flood protection afforded by a system previously accredited as providing 100-year frequency flood protection. Allows nonfederal, including private, entities that own, operate, maintain, or repair flood protection systems to determine whether a flood protection system is restorable. Establishes the Technical Mapping Advisory Council to develop new mapping standards for 100-year flood insurance rate maps. Prohibits the Administrator, until the Council submits proposed new mapping standards, from making effective any new or updated rate maps for flood insurance coverage under the Program that were not in effect as of enactment of this Act, or otherwise revising, updating, or changing the flood insurance rate maps in effect as of such date. Exempts from mandatory flood insurance purchase and compliance requirements property located in a special flood hazard area if the property owner submits an elevation certificate showing that the lowest level of the primary residence on such property is at least 3 feet higher than the elevation of the 100-year floodplain. Prohibits the Administrator from: (1) charging a fee for reviewing the flood hazard data, or (2) issuing flood insurance maps or making effective updated flood insurance maps that either omit or disregard the actual protection afforded by certain existing flood protection features. Requires the Administrator and the Comptroller General each to study strategies for privatizing the Program. Authorizes the Administrator to secure reinsurance of flood insurance program coverage from private market insurance, reinsurance, and capital market sources. Requires the Administrator to assess annually the Program's claims-paying ability, including its utilization of private sector reinsurance and reinsurance equivalents, with and without reliance on FEMA borrowing authority. Instructs the Administrator to report annually to Congress on the financial status of the Program and of the National Flood Insurance Fund (NFI Fund). Modifies the mitigation assistance grant program. Repeals the authority for planning assistance grants. Directs the Administrator to: (1) give priority to funding activities that will result in the greatest savings to the NFI Fund, including repetitive and severe repetitive loss structures; and (2) consider as an activity eligible for mitigation assistance the demolition and rebuilding of properties to at least base flood levels or higher, if required by either the Administrator or any governmental ordinance. Limits to $40 million per fiscal year the amount of funding for severe repetitive loss structures. Eliminates: (1) the grants program for repetitive insurance claims properties, and (2) the pilot program for mitigation of severe repetitive loss properties. Increases the amounts available from the NFI Fund to the National Flood Mitigation Fund (NFM Fund) for specified activities. States that amounts made available in the NFM Fund shall not be subject to offsetting collections through premium rates for flood insurance coverage. Revises requirements for additional flood insurance coverage for the costs of compliance with community land use and control measures to eliminate coverage for properties for which an offer of mitigation assistance is made under the repetitive loss priority program and the individual priority property program. Amends the FDPA to direct the Administrator to notify residents of special flood hazard areas annually of the mandatory flood insurance purchase requirement and the rate phase-ins for such properties. Amends the NFIA to require the Administrator to notify: (1) Members of Congress whose districts or states would be affected of any significant action relating to any revision or update of any floodplain area or flood-risk zone, (2) tenants of the availability of contents insurance for property located in a special flood hazard area, and (3) policy holders annually regarding direct management by FEMA of their flood insurance policy and of the option to purchase flood insurance directly administered by an insurance company. Amends the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974 (RESPA) to require a lender's good faith estimate for loan applicants to disclose: (1) the availability of flood insurance for residential real estate both in and out of a special flood hazard area, and (2) that the escrowing of flood insurance payments is required for many loans. Directs the Administrator, when updating flood insurance maps, to communicate with communities located in areas where flood insurance rate maps have not been updated in 20 years or more and state emergency agencies to resolve outstanding issues, provide technical assistance, and disseminate all necessary information to reduce the prevalence of outdated maps in flood-prone areas. Authorizes the Administrator to refuse to accept the transfer of the administration of flood insurance policies that are written and administered by any insurance company, other insurer, or any insurance agent or broker. Directs the Administrator to: (1) notify local public media when establishing projected flood elevations with respect to certain communities; and (2) grant an additional 90-day extension of the initial 90-day period for appeals if an affected community certifies that there are property owners or lessees who are unaware of the statutory period to appeal proposed flood elevation determinations, and the community will use the time extension to notify those affected. Directs the Administrator to establish a separate National Flood Insurance Reserve Fund to meet expected future obligations of the Program. Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 to authorize community development block grants to supplement existing municipal funding for local administration of building code enforcement. Directs the Administrator to: (1) report to Congress on procedures to limit the percentage of flood insurance policies directly managed by FEMA to a maximum of 10% of the aggregate number of all flood insurance policies in force under the Program, and (2) reduce to a 10% maximum the number of flood insurance policies directly managed by either FEMA or its non-insurer direct servicing contractor. Directs the Administrator and Comptroller General each to study strategies for offering and incorporating voluntary community-based flood insurance policy options into the Program. Directs the Administrator to study the feasibility of amending the NFIA to include widely used and nationally recognized building codes as part of the floodplain management criteria. Directs the National Academy of Sciences to study methods for understanding graduated risk behind levees and the associated land development, insurance, and risk communication dimensions. Requires the Administrator to: (1) review the processes and procedures for determining that a flood event has commenced or is in progress for flood insurance purposes, and for providing public notification that such an event has commenced or is in progress; and (2) plan how to repay within 10 years all amounts owed pursuant to NFIA on notes and obligations approved by the President, including any previously borrowed but not yet repaid. Authorizes the Secretary of the Army, upon request of a governmental entity, to evaluate a levee system that was designed or constructed by the Secretary for the purposes of the National Flood Insurance Program. Title IV: Jumpstarting Opportunity with Broadband Spectrum Act of 2011 - Jumpstarting Opportunity with Broadband Spectrum Act of 2011 or the JOBS Act of 2011 - Requires, within specified deadlines and subject to exceptions, that: (1) the President withdraw or modify the assignment of specified ranges of electromagnetic spectrum now assigned to federal government stations, and (2) the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) allocate certain spectrum and paired frequencies and reallocate the 700 MHz public safety narrowband and guard band spectrums for commercial use through competitive bidding auctions. Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to authorize the FCC to encourage spectrum licensees to voluntarily relinquish usage rights to permit the assignment of new initial licenses subject to flexible-use service rules by sharing with such licensees a portion of the proceeds from competitive bidding auctions. Requires the FCC, as a condition to such auctions, to first conduct a reverse auction with at least two competing licensees to determine the amount of compensation licensees would accept in return for such voluntary relinquishment. Sets forth restrictions particular to broadcast television spectrum auctions and the valuation of voluntarily relinquished broadcast television spectrum. Authorizes the FCC, subject to specified conditions, to reassign and reallocate broadcast television spectrum for such auctions. Requires that certain relocation cost reimbursements be made to reassigned broadcast television licensees and related multichannel video programming distributors. Authorizes waivers from FCC flexible use service rules in lieu of such reimbursements. Prohibits the FCC from involuntarily reassigning a broadcast television licensee from: (1) an ultra high to a very high frequency television channel, and (2) a television channel between 174-216 megahertz to a channel between the 54-88 megahertz frequencies. Extends the FCC's auction authority until September 30, 2021. Prohibits the FCC, in assigning licenses through competitive bidding, from: (1) limiting a licensee's ability to manage the applications, services, and priority of traffic on its network; and (2) requiring the licensee to sell network access on a wholesale basis. Requires the FCC to assess allowing unlicensed U-NII (Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure) devices in the 5 GHz band. Directs: (1) the FCC to establish a Public Safety Communications Planning Board to develop proposals for a National Public Safety Communications Plan, and (2) the Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information of the Department of Commerce to select an Administrator of the Plan. Requires the FCC to assign the Administrator a renewable 10-year license for exclusive use of the public safety broadband and 700 MHz D block spectrums to authorize the operation of state public safety broadband communications networks in accordance with the Plan. Directs each state desiring such a network to establish or designate a State Public Safety Broadband Office (SPSBO). Authorizes grants to SPSBOs for eligible activity costs and contracts with private-sector entities for the construction, management, maintenance, and operation of such networks. Authorizes borrowing from the Treasury's general fund: (1) by the FCC for the relocation of television broadcasters, and (2) by the Assistant Secretary to enter a contract with a Plan Administrator and make SPSBO grants. Establishes the Public Safety Trust Fund. Requires that various auction proceeds be deposited in such Fund and used, through FY2021, according to a specified order of priority, to: (1) carry out programs and activities under this Act, (2) repay amounts borrowed from the Treasury's general fund, and (3) dedicate specified amounts toward deficit reduction. Directs amounts remaining in the Fund after FY2021 to be deposited in the general fund for the sole purpose of deficit reduction. Next Generation 9-1-1 Advancement Act of 2011 - Amends the National Telecommunications and Information Administration Organization Act to reestablish and extend matching grants, through October 1, 2021, to eligible state or local governments or tribal organizations for the implementation, operation, and migration of various 9-1-1, E9-1-1 (wireless telephone location), Next Generation 9-1-1 (voice, text, video), and IP-enabled emergency services and public safety personnel training. Directs the Assistant Secretary and the Administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to establish a 9-1-1 Implementation Coordination Office. Provides immunity and liability protection, to the extent consistent with specified provisions of the Wireless Communications and Public Safety Act of 1999, to various users and providers of Next Generation 9-1-1 and related services, including for the release of subscriber information. Directs the FCC to: (1) initiate a proceeding to create a specialized Do-Not-Call registry for public safety answering points, and (2) establish penalties and fines for autodialing (robocalls) and related violations. Requires that federal entities operating federal government stations within certain frequencies be paid for specified relocation or sharing costs incurred in planning for an auction or relocating from federal to exclusive nonfederal or shared use. (Current law requires payments only for certain relocations to exclusive nonfederal use.) Requires the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to give priority to exclusive nonfederal use. Conditions any sharing on feasibility and cost constraints. Revises the composition of the Telecommunications Development Fund (TDF) (provides capital to small businesses in the telecommunications industry) board of directors to establish an independent board. (Current law requires that the board include representatives from the FCC, the Small Business Administration [SBA], and the Department of the Treasury.) Requires that interest from an auction escrow account be dedicated to deficit reduction, thereby eliminating the deposit of such interest in the TDF. Title V: Offsets - Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 to require the Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) to require each government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) (the Federal National Mortgage Association [Fannie Mae] and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation [Freddie Mac]) to charge a guarantee fee in connection with any guarantee of the timely payment of principal and interests on securities, notes, and other obligations based on or backed by mortgages on residential real properties designed principally for the occupancy of from one to four families. Requires the FHFA Director to prohibit a GSE from consummating any offer for a guarantee to a lender for mortgage-backed securities if: (1) the guarantee is inconsistent with the requirements of this Act; or (2) the risk of loss is allowed to increase, through the lowering of the underwriting standards or other means, for the primary purpose of meeting the requirements of this Act. Requires direct deposit into the Treasury of any amounts received from fee increases imposed by this Act that are necessary to comply with the minimum increase required by this Act. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to direct the Secretary of the Treasury, in the case of any employer deferred compensation plan of a state or local government or of any of their agencies or instrumentalities, to require identification of any designated distribution paid to any plan participant or beneficiary based in whole or in part upon an individual's earnings for service in the employ of that governmental entity. Requires disclosure of any such designated distribution to the Social Security Administration for purposes of its administration of the Social Security Act. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) require taxpayers to provide their social security number on their tax return in order to claim the refundable portion of the child tax credit; and (2) impose a 100% tax on excess unemployment compensation, as defined by this Act, received by certain high-income taxpayers in taxable years beginning after December 31, 2011. Amends the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to render ineligible for the supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP, formerly food stamps) any household in which a member receives income or assets with a fair market value of at least $1 million. Securing Annuities for Federal Employees Act of 2011 - Increases the employee contribution to the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) and to the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) for calendar years 2013, 2014, and 2015. Establishes new annuity computation rules for federal employees hired after December 31, 2012, with less than five years of civilian service creditable under CSRS or any other federal employee retirement system. Eliminates the FERS annuity supplement for federal employees whose entitlement to an annuity is based on separation from service after December 31, 2012. Amends the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011 to extend through 2013 the cost of living freeze on the pay of federal employees, including Members of Congress and legislative branch employees. Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 to reduce limits of discretionary spending, and revised limits, for FY2013-FY2021. Amends SSA title XVIII (Medicare) to revise requirements for the reduction in premium subsidy, and consequent increase in premium, based on income, for Medicare parts B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) and part D (Prescription Drugs) premiums for high-income Medicare beneficiaries. Increases on a graduated basis the applicable percentage used to calculate such premiums. Modifies the temporary adjustment in income thresholds for the calculation of such premiums which currently extends the 2010 thresholds through December 31, 2019. Terminates such adjustment, instead, on December 31 of the first year after the year in which at least 25% of part B and part D enrollees are subject to a premium subsidy reduction. Makes a conforming amendment to the inflation adjustment to such premiums. Title VI: Miscellaneous Provisions - Repeals certain provisions requiring an acceleration in installments of corporate estimated tax. Amends the Trade Adjustment Assistance Extension Act of 2011 to repeal a requirement for prepayment of merchandise processing fees. Provides that it shall not be in order in the Senate to: (1) consider any measure extending the payroll tax holiday period in the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010; and (2) allow an emergency designation in any bill, resolution, amendment, motion, or conference report. Allows such restrictions to be waived by an affirmative vote of three-fifths of the Members of the Senate. Provides that the budgetary effects of this Act shall not be included on the scorecards maintained by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) pursuant to the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 if such budgetary effects do not increase the deficit during FY2012-FY2021.

66 Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if an application from Kilkenny County Council for funding to refurbish a housing scheme (details supplied) will be expedited and approved; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39343/11]

Ireland · Dáil Éireann · 8 December 2011

66 Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if an application from Kilkenny County Council for funding to refurbish a housing scheme (details supplied) will be expedited and approved; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39343/11]

65 Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he has instructed local authorities to retrofit and insulate only those local authority houses that become vacant; if the scheme to retrofit and insulate local authority houses will be extended to all housing stock; the funding made available in 2009, 2010 and 2011 for this scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39342/11]

Ireland · Dáil Éireann · 8 December 2011

65 Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he has instructed local authorities to retrofit and insulate only those local authority houses that become vacant; if the scheme to retrofit and insulate local authority houses will be extended to all housing stock; the funding made available in 2009, 2010 and 2011 for this scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39342/11]

Mortgage Finance Act of 2011

United States · United States Congress · 8 December 2011

Mortgage Finance Act of 2011 - Appoints the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) receiver of the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) (government sponsored enterprises or GSEs) and places them into irrevocable receivership, effective on the date on which the Mortgage Finance Agency (MFA) established by this Act is operational and able to perform the guarantee function for qualified mortgage-backed securities collateralized by qualified residential mortgages. Directs the FHFA to commence liquidation of the GSEs immediately upon their placement into receivership. Repeals the charters of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Requires repayment by the FHFA to the General Fund of the Treasury, in repayment of certain government assistance to the GSEs, of all proceeds from their operations in receivership remaining after their outstanding obligations are fully satisfied. Requires the FHFA as receiver to manage the combined assets of the GSEs to obtain resolutions that maximize the return for the taxpayer. Establishes the MFA as an independent agency of the federal government to: (1) guarantee securities issued by qualified issuers and collateralized by pools of qualified residential mortgages in order to provide a dependable, transparent, and liquid market for high quality mortgages and multifamily mortgages for securitization; (2) charge and collect a guarantee fee sufficient to protect the MFA and the Treasury from the risks of guaranteeing the timely payment of principal and interest on qualified mortgage-backed securities; (3) establish and maintain a Catastrophic Fund to minimize the burden on the federal government by setting aside amounts that will be available solely to pay obligations under the MFA guarantee in the event of any future mortgage market collapse; and (4) purchase supplemental insurance coverage. Requires the MFA to: (1) guarantee the timely payment of the principal and interest to holders of qualified mortgage-back securities, and (2) cover any shortfalls to security holders. Requires the MFA to charge a guarantee fee with respect to timely payment of principal and interest on the qualified mortgage-backed securities. Creates in the Treasury the Catastrophic Fund, to which shall be credited the amount of guarantee fees and any amounts earned on investments. Requires the MFA Board of Directors to issue guidelines to determine whether supplemental coverage: (1) is being offered on commercially reasonable terms, and (2) is reasonably likely to mitigate the risk that the MFA will have to make any payment pursuant to its guarantee. Declares that nothing in this Act may be construed as preventing the private sector from securitizing qualified residential mortgages, qualified multifamily mortgages, or other non-qualified residential single family or multifamily mortgages. Terminates the MFA after ten years.

Permanently Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act of 2011

United States · United States Congress · 8 December 2011

Permanently Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act of 2011 - Amends the Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act of 2009 to repeal its sunset date December 31, 2012 (thus making the Act permanent). Establishes a private right of action to enforce compliance with such Act.

60 Deputy Tom Fleming asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the way he proposes to address the volume of applications for local authority housing throughout the country; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39176/11]

Ireland · Dáil Éireann · 7 December 2011

60 Deputy Tom Fleming asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the way he proposes to address the volume of applications for local authority housing throughout the country; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39176/11]

57 Deputy Sandra McLellan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the current waiting time for an offer of social housing from when an application is processed to when an offer is made; his views that an answer of eight years from one local authority is acceptable; the steps he will take to reduce that eight-year waiting list; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39122/11]

Ireland · Dáil Éireann · 7 December 2011

57 Deputy Sandra McLellan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the current waiting time for an offer of social housing from when an application is processed to when an offer is made; his views that an answer of eight years from one local authority is acceptable; the steps he will take to reduce that eight-year waiting list; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39122/11]

56 Deputy Sandra McLellan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the reason a person on supplementary benefit does not meet the criteria to apply for social housing; the steps he will take to rectify this; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39118/11]

Ireland · Dáil Éireann · 7 December 2011

56 Deputy Sandra McLellan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the reason a person on supplementary benefit does not meet the criteria to apply for social housing; the steps he will take to rectify this; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39118/11]

55 Deputy Sandra McLellan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the reason there is no legislation to cover housing transfers from one local authority to another; his plans to amend the current legislation to address this; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39115/11]

Ireland · Dáil Éireann · 7 December 2011

55 Deputy Sandra McLellan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the reason there is no legislation to cover housing transfers from one local authority to another; his plans to amend the current legislation to address this; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39115/11]

31 Deputy Patrick O’Donovan asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation further to Parliamentary Question No. 369 of 29 November 2011, if in a situation in which a property management company has gone into liquidation and the housing estate has not been taken in charge by the local authority, he will confirm that the legal responsibility for the ongoing maintenance and carrying out of repairs lies with the liquidator. [39161/11]

Ireland · Dáil Éireann · 7 December 2011

31 Deputy Patrick O’Donovan asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation further to Parliamentary Question No. 369 of 29 November 2011, if in a situation in which a property management company has gone into liquidation and the housing estate has not been taken in charge by the local authority, he will confirm that the legal responsibility for the ongoing maintenance and carrying out of repairs lies with the liquidator. [39161/11]

Baseline Reform Act of 2012

United States · United States Congress · 7 December 2011

Baseline Reform Act of 2011 - Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) to revise the formula for establishing the budget baseline. Revises the annual baseline, for any fiscal year, to mean a projection of current-year levels of new budget authority (as under current law), outlays (as under current law), or receipts (instead of revenues) and the surplus or deficit (as under current law) for the current year, the budget year, and the ensuing nine outyears based on laws enacted through the applicable date. Includes estimates for direct spending in the baseline calculation formula for the budget year and each outyear. Revises the formula for calculating the baseline for discretionary spending for the budget year and each outyear to eliminate adjustments for: (1) expiring multiyear subsidized housing contracts; (2) administrative expenses of the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund, the Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund, the Unemployment Trust Fund, and the Railroad Retirement account; (3) offsets to federal employees' annual pay; and (4) certain inflators used to adjust budgetary resources in the Act. Amends the Act to define: (1) Medicare as programs within budget function 570; (2) Medicaid and other health-related spending as programs within budget function 550; and (2) other direct spending as programs other than those within budget functions 550 and 570, excluding Social Security and net interest. Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to require the Director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), after the President's budget submission and in addition to the baseline projections, to report a supplemental projection to the congressional budget committees, assuming extension of current tax policy for the fiscal year commencing on October 1 of that year, with an alternative projection for that fiscal year, again assuming the extension of current tax policy, excluding emergency provisions, in the previous fiscal year. Requires CBO to report to such committees, on or before July 1 of each year, the Long-Term Budget Outlook for: (1) the fiscal year commencing on October 1 of that year, and (2) at least the ensuing 30 fiscal years.

HOME Act

United States · United States Congress · 7 December 2011

Housing Opportunities Made Easier Act or HOME Act - Instructs the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to: (1) provide 150,000 incremental vouchers to public housing agencies in FY2012 for tenant-based rental housing assistance under section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937; and (2) renew such vouchers in each ensuing fiscal year.

Mandatory Foreclosure Mediation Act

United States · United States Congress · 7 December 2011

Mandatory Foreclosure Mediation Act - Prohibits a servicer from initiating a foreclosure action against a borrower unless the servicer has: (1) made a reasonable effort to initiate mediation proceedings to determine if the borrower is eligible for a loan modification or an alternative to foreclosure; and (2) offered the borrower, if eligible, such a modification or alternative. Requires a servicer to suspend a foreclosure action initiated before the enactment of this Act until the servicer: (1) completes such a mediation proceeding; and (2) offers the borrower, if eligible, a modification or alternative. Prohibits a servicer, during the suspension period, from: (1) sending the borrower a notice of foreclosure, (2) conducting or scheduling a sale of the real property securing the mortgage, or (3) causing final judgment to be entered against the borrower. Directs the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to establish such a mediation process. Declares that a servicer is not required to suspend a foreclosure action if the servicer makes a reasonable effort to schedule a mediation proceeding and documents that the borrower has not agreed to one. Makes a violation of this Act a bar to a foreclosure action. Allows a servicer in compliance with this Act, however, to bring or proceed with a foreclosure action, regardless of any prior violation.

Het feit dat 300.000 gezinnen klem zitten door de inkomensgrens voor sociale huurwoningen

Netherlands · House of Representatives · 7 December 2011

Het feit dat 300.000 gezinnen klem zitten door de inkomensgrens voor sociale huurwoningen

CONTAMINATED DRYWALL: EXAMINING THE CURRENT HEALTH, HOUSING AND PRODUCT SAFETY ISSUES FACING HOMEOWNERS

United States · United States Senate · 6 December 2011

proposition de loi visant à améliorer les règles de transmission de la déclaration d'intention d'aliéner

France · Senate · 6 December 2011

250 Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if smoke alarms are a current requirement for houses rented from public funds; if not, if he intends to require such provision; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38909/11]

Ireland · Dáil Éireann · 6 December 2011

250 Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if smoke alarms are a current requirement for houses rented from public funds; if not, if he intends to require such provision; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38909/11]

241 Deputy Joe Carey asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the total funding available to Clare County Council for energy efficiency retrofits in council houses and the amounts claimed or drawn down by the council in 2011; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38627/11]

Ireland · Dáil Éireann · 6 December 2011

241 Deputy Joe Carey asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the total funding available to Clare County Council for energy efficiency retrofits in council houses and the amounts claimed or drawn down by the council in 2011; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38627/11]

227 Deputy Áine Collins asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the number of applicants on the housing waiting list of each housing authority; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38387/11]

Ireland · Dáil Éireann · 6 December 2011

227 Deputy Áine Collins asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the number of applicants on the housing waiting list of each housing authority; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38387/11]

Public Housing Tenants Respect Act of 2011

United States · United States Congress · 6 December 2011

Public Housing Tenants Respect Act of 2011- Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 to repeal its public housing community service and family self-sufficiency requirements.

Fairness in Foreclosures Act of 2011

United States · United States Congress · 6 December 2011

Fairness in Foreclosures Act of 2011 - Declares that no action for a deficiency judgment arising from an obligation under a residential mortgage may be brought except in accordance with this Act. Declares that no such deficiency judgment may be issued unless the court has determined that the foreclosure sale for the property securing repayment was conducted in accordance with specified requirements. Specifies a formula for determining the total amount a plaintiff may recover in such a deficiency judgment. Declares that no action for a deficiency judgment may be brought if the (nonrecourse) mortgage terms prohibit recovery after: (1) the residential property securing repayment of such obligation is sold at foreclosure sale, or (2) the mortgage is foreclosed in the manner provided under the law of the state in which the property is located. Declares that if the mortgagor is a member of a low-income family: (1) no action may be brought for a deficiency judgment; and (2) a deficiency in recovery, from a foreclosure sale, of the full amount of the mortgage obligation may not be reported to any consumer reporting agency or disclosed to any person other than the mortgagor or the mortgagor's personal representative, unless such disclosure is otherwise required by law.

Middle Class Tax Cut Act of 2011

United States · United States Congress · 5 December 2011

Middle Class Tax Cut Act of 2011 - Amends the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 to extend through 2012 the reduction in employment taxes for employees and the self-employed. Increases such reduction from 2% to 3.1% Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose on individual taxpayers between 2012 and 2022 an additional tax equal to 1.9% of so much of their modified adjusted gross income in excess of $1 million. Provides for an inflation adjustment to the $1 million threshold amount for taxable years beginning after 2013. Defines "modified adjusted gross income" as adjusted gross income reduced by any deduction allowed for investment interest. Imposes a 50% tax (55% for a taxable year beginning in 2011 or 2012) on any unemployment compensation received by a taxpayer with an adjusted gross income of at least $1 million. Denies a tax deduction for the payment of such tax. Amends the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to render ineligible for the supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP), formerly food stamps, any household in which a member receives income or assets with a fair market value of at least $1 million. Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 to require until October 1, 2021, a phased increase in the fees charged to mortgage lenders by the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) to guarantee payment of new mortgage loans.

OVERSIGHT OF THE FEDERAL HOUSING FINANCE AGENCY

United States · United States House of Representatives · 1 December 2011

120 Deputy Pat Deering asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the amount of money that has been paid to local authorities for work on unfinished housing estates; and if he will provide a breakdown by county. [38156/11]

Ireland · Dáil Éireann · 1 December 2011

120 Deputy Pat Deering asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the amount of money that has been paid to local authorities for work on unfinished housing estates; and if he will provide a breakdown by county. [38156/11]

58 Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Finance his views on a proposal regarding the revival of the property market (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38182/11]

Ireland · Dáil Éireann · 1 December 2011

58 Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Finance his views on a proposal regarding the revival of the property market (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38182/11]