President Clinton has signed two key pieces of housing legislation, one that calls for the largest single increase ever in the low-income housing tax credit and another that allows families to apply up to a year's worth of federal rental housing assistance towards the purchase of a home.

The hike in the tax credit, which is the mechanism that has been responsible for building the vast majority of the nation's affordable rental properties since its inception in 1987, was part of a catch-all appropriations bill. But it didn't even get a mention when the President held a signing ceremony to commemorate the event.

But the signing of the omnibus housing bill, which also updates federal rules regarding manufacturing housing and provides for the construction and financing of more housing for the elderly and disabled, didn't even rate a press release, let alone a signing party.

That may seem astounding given the President's dogged determination to boost the nation's home ownership rate. But not so surprising when you realize that the bill's main author was none other than Rep. Rick Lazio, D-N.Y., who lost the race for the New York Senate seat to Mr. Clinton's bride. Could it be that the President didn't want the beaten politician to have one last moment in the sun? The tax credit provisions were hailed by John McEvoy of the National Council of State Housing Agencies as an "extraordinarily hard fought victory for affordable housing and the hundreds of thousands of lower income American families who will get housing families." The "long overdue increases" in the ceilings of both the tax credit as well as tax-exempt private activity bond program will result in an additional 180,000 low-income rental units a year.

Bonds and housing credits are the most essential financial tools states have to back first- time home buyer mortgages and affordable rentals. Congress capped both programs in 1986 and never increased them. And now, demand for the bonds and credits outstrip their supply nationally by a ratio of three to one.

States also use the programs as catalysts to revitalize urban neighborhoods and rejuvenate dilapidated housing. And according to the National Association of Home Builders, just the tax credit alone contributes significantly to economic growth nationwide, generating approximately 70,000 jobs, $2.3 billion in wages and $1.2 billion in federal state and local taxes annually.

The American Homeownership and Economic Opportunity Act, meanwhile, gives local housing officials the authority to allow families receiving Section 8 rental vouchers to accumulate up to a year's worth of aid for use towards the downpayment and closing costs in buying a house instead of renting.

About 3 million families currently receive Section 8 rental assistance from the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

In modernizing rules regarding manufactured homes, the legislation establishes a dispute resolution program so that buyers are not caught in the middle when makers, retailers and installers blame each other for defects or installation problems.

Also known as trailers and mobile homes, manufactured houses are the only dwellings in the country built under a national building code. Currently, about 20 million people live full-time in more than 8 million factory-built homes.

The new law also gives local governments greater flexibility to fashion ownership programs for their low-income citizens, makes it easier for seniors to refinance their government- insured reverse mortgages and makes some technical corrections to the private more insurance cancellation law that was enacted three years ago.

But the measure might be even more well known for what was left out a provision that would have allowed teachers, firefighters and policemen access to FHA-insured mortgages with only a 1 percent downpayment. Also omitted was a provision that would have required an impact analysis of proposed federal regulations on the cost of housing, On that last item, lawmakers missed a golden opportunity to reduce unnecessary and burdensome regulations that drive up the cost of housing, says NAHB President Robert Mitchell.

"With millions of working American families having critical housing needs and forced to spend more than half of their income for housing, the impact analysis would have been the best tool available to rein in excessive regulatory costs and promote housing affordability," Mitchell said.

However, the bill does provide for the creation of a "Regulatory Barriers Clearinghouse" within HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research. The clearinghouse will collect and disseminate information on the prevalence of regulatory barriers and their effects on the availability of affordable housing, and will catalogue successful barrier removal strategies.