With the Senate passing today, by a 60 to 39 margin, a major overhaul to the financial regulatory system (the Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010), we’re going to keep our eye on the key provision that contains $1 billion for NSP3 and the vacant property fix, plus the $1 billion for the emergency mortgage relief program. This brings the total NSP funding to $7 billion — a number that please advocates, to be sure, but one that they, and Rep. Barney Frank, the Massachusetts Democrat, chair of the House Financial Services Committee, and sponsor of the Financial Stability Act, say is not nearly enough to adequately address the problem on the ground. In a recent interview with Shelterforce that will be published in our upcoming issue, Frank weighed in on NSP.
Here’s an excerpt (note at the time of the interview, there was $2 billion in NSP funds proposed):
Shelterforce: NSP1 and NSP2, and the $2 billion more coming in regulatory reform: Do you think it’s enough?
Barney Frank: No.
He goes on something of a rallying cry for advocates, urging people to demand more funding for programs like NSP:
“I mean, money doesn’t solve everything, but the absence of money makes solving these things almost impossible…I’d like it to be more. I’d also like us to withdraw from Iraq, but, in the current situation, $2 billion is, well, we’re fighting right now for $2 billion.
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