00 SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 12 01 Requesting the governor to have prepared a report and recommendation 02 concerning the disposition of certain assets of the Alaska Housing Finance 03 Corporation in order to meet the revenue shortfalls in the state's budgets and 04 to meet other financial requirements. 05 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 06 WHEREAS continued state dependence on oil taxes and royalties as the principal 07 source of revenue from which to support state programs and capital improvements leaves state 08 revenue vulnerable to changes in the market price of crude oil; and 09 WHEREAS, with the market price of crude oil for the current state fiscal year running 10 well below estimates of its price on which the state fiscal year operating and capital 11 appropriations had been developed, the state is facing a substantial current state fiscal year 12 revenue shortfall; and 13 WHEREAS the current state fiscal year budget is balanced, in part, upon expenditure 14 of money from tax settlements, the proper handling of which has been disputed; and 01 WHEREAS funds, accounts, and reserves held by the state's various public 02 corporations contain revenue, or generate earnings, that the legislature may consider in 03 discharging its responsibilities to meet the current budget shortfall and to prepare state fiscal 04 year 1995 operating and capital budgets; and 05 WHEREAS, in past decades, the legislature has appropriated money to the Alaska 06 Housing Finance Corporation and, from amounts earned on the use of the money initially 07 appropriated, has further appropriated these earnings back to the corporation, allowing the 08 Alaska Housing Finance Corporation to accumulate and retain these appropriations and 09 earnings as assets for its housing programs; and 10 WHEREAS a principal beneficiary of those legislative appropriations has been the 11 Alaska Housing Finance Corporation's home ownership assistance program, a source of 12 subsidy and of direct financial support for persons of moderate income to assist in purchasing 13 homes financed under the special mortgage loan purchase program, and similar programs 14 targeting support for home ownership by moderate income Alaska households; and 15 WHEREAS evidence suggests that the corporation's activities that provide financial 16 support for persons of moderate income to finance the purchase of homes has not materially 17 altered the percentage of moderate income Alaskans holding title to residences; and 18 WHEREAS these moderate income homeowners receive a subsidy from the 19 corporation when the corporation pledges its equity to lower the borrowing costs on bonds it 20 issues to finance home mortgage programs; and 21 WHEREAS the marginal reduction of the corporation's mortgage lending rate is no 22 longer an essential subsidy to moderate income Alaska home buyers since other mortgage 23 lenders now compete with the corporation when selling mortgage loans in the secondary 24 market; and 25 WHEREAS the legislature believes that it is time to reconsider and measure the 26 efficiency of the policy of providing public money as a source of financial support for persons 27 of moderate income to finance the purchase of homes; and 28 WHEREAS, as a first step in that reconsideration, the assets of the Alaska Housing 29 Finance Corporation that are reserved as a source of financial subsidy for persons of moderate 30 income to finance the purchase of homes should be accurately identified so that the legislature 31 may decide whether or not the corporation should sell or otherwise dispose of those assets and 01 return the amounts obtained from the sale and disposition to the state general fund for the 02 legislature's use in discharging its responsibilities to meet the current budget shortfall and to 03 prepare state fiscal year 1995 operating and capital budgets; 04 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature respectfully requests the 05 governor to direct the office of management and budget to retain the services of an expert in 06 public finance to identify the reserves and other assets of the Alaska Housing Finance 07 Corporation that relate to the corporation's housing programs of benefit to moderate income 08 persons; to analyze and provide a report and recommendation to the legislature concerning 09 whether or not those reserves and other assets may be sold or otherwise disposed of; and to 10 prepare an estimate of the amounts likely to be amounts obtained from the sale and disposition 11 of the reserves and other assets which may be made available for deposit into the state general 12 fund; and be it 13 FURTHER RESOLVED that the report and recommendation be provided to the 14 legislature not later than March 15, 1994, in order that the legislature may give thoughtful 15 consideration to its contents as it discharges its responsibilities to meet the current revenue 16 shortfall and superior court order and to prepare state fiscal year 1995 operating and capital 17 budgets; and be it 18 FURTHER RESOLVED that the board of directors of the Alaska Housing Finance 19 Corporation is encouraged to cooperate fully with the office of management and budget and 20 its contractor in the preparation of the report and recommendation identified in this resolution.