03/24/2004 GAAS:110:04 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Print Version | Email / Share
Governor Schwarzenegger Encourages Federal Lawmakers to Support Home Loans for Veterans of Recent Wars
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today threw his support behind federal legislation that would make home loan benefits available to veterans of recent wars that currently are available only to veterans of conflicts before 1977. The governor encouraged lawmakers in Washington D.C. to support HR 1742 and S. 1349, which seek to change the Internal Revenue Code to allow these benefits for more recent veterans.
The federal Internal Revenue Code currently limits Qualified Veterans Mortgage Bond (QVMB) loans to veterans who served on active duty prior to January 1, 1977 and who apply for financing within 30 years of date of discharge. This makes veterans of the Vietnam War the last veterans eligible for this benefit. Governor Schwarzenegger and the California Department of Veterans Affairs believe that veterans from deployments to Panama, the Persian Gulf, Operation Desert Storm, Somalia, the Balkans, and now in Operation Iraqi Freedom should also have access to this benefit when they reenter civilian life.
“I urge lawmakers to do the right thing and support HR 1742 and S. 1349, the ‘Veterans American Dream of Homeownership Act,’ so that today’s veterans can also have access to the low-interest home loans which veterans from World War I to the Vietnam War have enjoyed over the years,” said Governor Schwarzenegger. “I believe all veterans who serve our country during a time of war should be given the same respect and stature regardless of the period of time their service was provided. Current federal law devalues the military service of these young men and women and this situation must not be allowed to continue.”
Since 1922 California has operated, at no expense to its General Fund, the voter approved Cal-Vet Home Loan Program, a QVMB program that has helped more than 415,000 California wartime veterans become homeowners. QVMB home loan programs are also available in Alaska, Oregon, Texas, and Wisconsin. The Tax Reform Act of 1984 limited the use of QVMBs to wartime veterans with active military duty prior to 1977. This situation will cause the Cal-Vet Home Loan program to effectively end in 2007, when the vast majority of veterans from recent conflicts will no longer be eligible. Unless the law is changed, the Cal-Vet Home Loan program’s portfolio, worth an estimated $3 billion, will disappear from available mortgage funds when the program sunsets.
California Secretary of Veterans Affairs Thomas Johnson is in Washington D.C. this week attending the National Association of State Directors of Veterans Affairs. Secretary Johnson will be personally visiting lawmakers’ offices on behalf of Governor Schwarzenegger to encourage them to support the passage of H.R. 1742 and S. 1349. “All California veterans deserve our respect and gratitude, regardless of when and where they served our country. They also deserve equal treatment and assistance when it comes to obtaining home loan benefits,” said Secretary Johnson.
