ICBA to Congress: Don’t raise g-fees for infrastructure funding

ICBA and other organizations called on Senate infrastructure negotiators to refrain from using Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac guarantee fees as a source of funding.

Purpose: In a joint letter, the groups said g-fees should only be used as the risk management tool for which they were intended—not as the nation’s piggy bank.

Affordability: The groups said lawmakers must avoid exacerbating existing affordability challenges, noting a 10-year g-fee increase to fund a two-month period of payroll tax relief in 2011 continues to raise the cost of homeownership.

Bank Reporting: While ICBA is pressing to keep the Biden administration’s IRS reporting proposal out of the infrastructure framework, it continues urging community bankers to advocate against the proposal ahead of the pending release of a reconciliation spending package.