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Rep. Brad Miller, a Raleigh Democrat who represents parts of Greensboro and Rockingham County, is taking another swing at his mortgage modification legislation. The bill, he says, may do more than the much-ballyhooed financial industry bailout to keep people in their homes.

While it passed the House Judiciary Committee during the last session of Congress, the measure never got a vote on the House floor, in part because of resistance on the Senate's part.

"For the last two years, the Senate has been where good ideas go to die," said Miller, who represents the 13th District.

But with Democrats holding a wider, although not filibuster-proof, majority on the other side of the Hill, Miller is cautiously optimistic his bill or one like it will get through.

"There are more Democrats in the Senate...and economic circumstances have declined, so the need for it are all the more apparent," he said.

Under current law, bankruptcy judges can reset the terms of your borrowing on a second house like a beach house or investment property in the mountains.

But that same judge can't touch your first mortgage on the place where you live. And if you're like most folks who find themselves in bankruptcy proceedings, that's probably both the only piece of real property you own and your largest obligation.

"It actually doesn't help anyone who can't afford their house," Miller said, estimating it could help between a quarter and a third of the people in bankruptcy proceedings.

Miller's bill, HR 225, wouldn't write off a mortgage entirely. Rather, judges could reset terms so the amount secured by the mortgage is equal to what a house is worth.

Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois favors the legislation and is also pushing for the measure.

Mortgage industry groups have fought against the idea, saying that giving judges this kind of power would drive up the cost of mortgages. The logic goes that if a bank knows the terms of their mortgage could be reset by a judge, the banks will be less likely to make it or, at the least, make it more expensive to account for the higher risk.

Still, there are some signs of thawing among banks. Citicorp has announced it would support legislation similar to Miller's. And the House Judiciary Committee heard Miller's and a similar bill last week, but no vote is scheduled on the measure yet.

Foxx wins on bailout

Rep. Virginia Foxx's bill that would derail the second half of the financial industry bailout, affectionately known as TARP in Washington, passed the House on a 270-155 vote.

Foxx got support from fellow Republican Rep. Howard Coble, and even North Carolina Democratic Reps. Heath Shuler and Larry Kissell. Democratic Reps. Brad Miller and Mel Watt voted against.

Still, the measure had more bark than bite, since the Senate voted down a similar action earlier in the month and is unlikely to take up the House measure.

• Other votes
  The Senate last week passed the S 181, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which overturns a recent Supreme Court decision and gives workers a longer time to file pay discrimination cases. Republican Sen. Richard Burr voted against it; Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan voted for it. The House has passed a companion measure, backed by President Barack Obama.
• The Senate is expected to approve Tim Geithner as Treasurer Secretary on Monday night. Geithner has been dogged by the admission that he did not pay the full amount of federal taxes he owed while working for the International Monetary Fund. Burr will vote against confirmation; Hagan will vote in favor.

Appointments

• Sen. Kay Hagan picked up a third committee assignment last week. She will serve on the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee.
• Sen. Richard Burr will continue to serve as ranking member on the Veterans' Affairs Committee and will continue to sit on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. In addition, Burr has picked up a new posting to the Senate Armed Services Committee. Hagan also sits on the Labor and Armed Services committees.
• Rep. Howard Coble will serve as ranking member on the newly formed Judiciary subcommittee on Courts and Competition Policy, which will oversee antitrust litigation. His old intellectual property responsibilities will now be handled at the full committee level.

Contact Mark Binker at (919) 832-5549 or mark.binker@news-record.com