About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

GAO-03-703R 1 (2003-06-30)

handle is hein.gao/gaobaamgc0001 and id is 1 raw text is: I Accountability * Integrity * Reliability United States General Accounting Office Washington, DC 20548 June 30, 2003 The Honorable Paul S. Sarbanes Ranking Minority Member Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs United States Senate Subject: Employment of OMHAR Staff at HUD Following Their Employment at OMHAR Dear Senator Sarbanes: To reduce the estimated multibillion-dollar costs to the federal government of renewing rental subsidy contracts while helping preserve available and affordable low-income rental housing, Congress passed the Multifamily Assisted Housing Reform and Affordability Act of 1997 (Act), which established the mark-to-market program to restructure the contracts. The Act also created the Office of Multifamily Housing Assistance Restructuring (OMHAR) as a temporary organization within the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to administer the contract- restructuring program. With OMHAR scheduled to sunset (cease operations) on September 30, 2001, the Subcommittee on Housing and Transportation, Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, held a hearing in June 2001 to determine whether it would be more advantageous to the federal government to extend rather than end the program. Subsequently, Congress extended the sunset date to September 30, 2004, with restructuring work at HUD continuing until 2006. To ensure that OMHAR could attract and retain staff with requisite expertise in multifamily housing finance issues, the Act provided the Director of OMHAR authority to pay salaries comparable with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.' As a result, OMHAR salaries are generally higher than those paid for most federal positions. OMHAR is staffed in part by former HUD employees, and also by former employees of other federal agencies and the private sector. As you know, the Subcommittee on Housing and Transportation, Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs has previously highlighted the importance of attracting and retaining the skilled staff necessary to carry out OMHAR functions. In addition, you have stated that a chief goal of the legislation extending the sunset date until 2004 ought to be the retention of OMHAR staff so that program implementation would move forward effectively. In light of these issues, in your December 4, 2002, request, you expressed concern that HUD might not be honoring pay commitments relating to the return of OMHAR staff to HUD after their employment at OMHAR 'Public Law 105-65, Section 574 (b), 111 Stat. 1422, October 27, 1997. GAO-03-703R OMHAR Staff Employment

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most