The Capital Markets and Government Sponsored Enterprises Subcommittee on Tuesday will consider seven new bills to reform the operations of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, including one that prevents the Treasury from lowering the current 10% dividend the two pay to the government.
Over the past two years, reports have surfaced that the GSEs have been lobbying Treasury to reduce the dividend payments, which almost guarantee that they will be unable to post any true net earnings.
The dividend bill was sponsored by Rep. Don Manzullo, R-Ill.
Other bills being considered would end the government bailout of the two --either abruptly or over time. Some proposals deal with such side issues as making Fannie and Freddie subject to Freedom of Information Act requests, and ending their payouts of legal coverage to former executives that have been sued for their role as managers.
To date, the subcommittee has approved eight other bills reforming the two mortgage giants, but none are likely to be acted upon by the House any time soon – especially with the federal debt ceiling negotiations coming to a head.
