MEMBER SPOTLIGHT Rep. Denny Heck (D-WA, 10) Congressman Denny Heck represents Washington’s 10th Congressional District, which includes most of Pierce County, nearly all of Thurston County, and a portion of Mason County. He is currently serving his fourth term in the 116th Congress.

Before coming to Congress in 2012, Rep. Heck successfully grew several small businesses in Washington state and co-founded the preeminent statewide public affairs network, TVW. Rep. Heck served in the State House of Representatives for nearly a decade and was chosen by his colleagues to serve as Majority Leader before retiring in 1986. After his time in the Legislature, he served as Chief of Staff to Governor Booth Gardner during his second term.

In Congress, Rep. Heck serves on the House Financial Services Committee where he works on three Subcommittees: Consumer Protection and Financial Institutions; Housing, Community Development and Insurance; and National Security, International Development and Monetary Policy. Rep. Heck also serves on the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the Joint Economic Committee. Has the New Democrat Coalition’s Housing Task Force identified any problems in financing to builders and homebuyers that can be solved with innovative federal government policies? The Housing Task Force began by looking at why housing is so expensive, but we quickly became convinced that the essential cause is a huge shortfall of homes. As a result, our “Missing Millions of Homes” report, and our work, has focused entirely on the supply side of housing, and we have not looked at the demand side (including homebuyer financing).

Closing the gap of 5-10 million missing housing units will require roughly doubling home construction from 1 million units per year to 2 million and sustaining that level for a decade or more. To do that, we need to double all the inputs, what I call the Four Ls: land, labor, lumber, and loans. Construction & Development loans have historically been funded largely by S&Ls, and I have doubts whether the capacity exists to double C&D loans on modern bank balance sheets. To make it possible to build housing at the rate we need, I believe we’ll need the FHLBs and other housing GSEs to play a larger role in construction financing.

What role should the Federal government play in housing finance, specifically as it relates to the Government Sponsored Enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac? Along with the Federal Housing Administration, Fannie and Freddie have done an excellent job creating a uniform national mortgage market and ensuring that mortgages are continuously available no matter the conditions in the financial markets. Most importantly, they have guaranteed the availability of 30-year fixed-rate mortgages. I am convinced that a federal government role is essential for each of these characteristics. In addition, the only way to ensure housing for low-income households is with some form of subsidy, and the federal government is best positioned to provide those subsidies, including the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit and the National Housing Trust Fund. What responsibility does the legislative branch have in ensuring healthy and robust capital markets for American families and businesses? America’s capital markets are incredibly dynamic and multi-faceted enough to serve all manner of businesses and investors. There is no way for the legislative branch to keep tabs on the full market. The day-to-day supervision and regulation must be delegated to experts. I am concerned with those making the legal arguments that this delegation violates the Constitution, as I can see no other way to make this work effectively. However, I do believe that it would be appropriate for the legislative branch to consider whether the SEC and CFTC should be consolidated into a single capital markets regulator.

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