U.S. House Democrats are looking to JPMorgan Chase & Co., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Bank of America Corp. to pick up the tab for housing programs targeted by Republican budget cuts.
Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts, the top Democrat on the Financial Services Committee, introduced a measure today that would impose a $2.5 billion levy on financial firms with more than $50 billion in assets and hedge fund managers with more than $10 billion in assets. The money would be collected through risk-based assessments.
Republicans have targeted four housing programs as they attempt to cut back on federal spending, voting yesterday to eliminate the Neighborhood Stabilization Program. They are also scheduled to vote on eliminating the Obama administration’s signature foreclosure-prevention effort, the Home Affordable Modification Program.
Frank, as a member of the minority party, would need Republicans to support the measure for it to move forward.
He proposed a similar levy last year to cover the cost of the Dodd-Frank financial regulation law. That fee, which would have raised $19 billion, was cut from the bill to gain the support of Senator Scott Brown, a Massachusetts Republican who joined Democrats in passing the broader regulatory overhaul.
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