Clinton calls for $30 billion housing fund

US Democratic presidential candidate Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) campaigns with Senator Evan Bayh (D-IN) in Terre Haute, Indiana March 20, 2008. (REUTERS/John Gress)

ANDERSON, Indiana (Reuters) - Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton called on Thursday for a second stimulus package, including a $30 billion emergency housing fund, to help boost the ailing U.S. economy.

Stating that "the housing and credit crisis is the biggest threat to the health of our economy," the New York senator said the emergency fund would help states buy foreclosed properties and provide mortgage restructuring.

Her proposal also included expanding the Mortgage Revenue Bond Program by giving state housing agencies up to $10 billion to refinance "unworkable mortgages," the Clinton campaign said in a statement.

The campaign said the newly enacted $168 billion stimulus package passed by the U.S. Congress and signed by President George W. Bush did not do enough to address the housing problem.

"Declining home values and record foreclosures threaten to not only devastate millions of American families but send communities across the country spiraling into deep recession."

The $30 billion emergency housing fund would put cash in the hands of local governments and nonprofit organizations to buy and resell properties to low-income people or turn them into affordable rental housing units.

The fund would also offer financial support to state programs aimed at educating and supporting people at risk of losing their homes.

The U.S. Senate this month approved a budget plan that includes about $35 billion for another round of economic stimulus if the first package fails to adequately invigorate the U.S. economy.

The House of Representatives-approved budget does not have such a provision and the two chambers must work out their differences.

(Reporting by Jeff Mason, additional reporting by Rick Cowan; Editing by Peter Cooney)