The list of second-home owners with mortgages includes 13 of the 24 senators, who serve six-year terms, giving them an incentive to find permanent housing in the Washington area.
For example, Democrat Michael Bennet of Colorado, who has been in the Senate since 2009, has paid off the mortgage on his primary residence in Denver. He owes between $250,000 and $500,000 on a 30-year, 4.75 percent fixed-rate mortgage he took out in 2011 for a home in Washington.
No Vacation
Some have multiple mortgages. Representative Adrian Smith, a Republican, owes between $265,000 and $550,000 on his Washington home and as much as $50,000 on his residence in Gering, Nebraska.
Smith “believes everything must be on the table as the committee works to review the current code,” the congressman’s spokesman, Rick VanMeter, said in a statement.
Representative Jim McDermott, a Democrat from Seattle, said there should be a distinction between vacation homes and homes needed for work.
“When you have to live in two different places for your work, you really are in a difficult situation if you’re buying a place in each place, if you can’t deduct both of them,” said McDermott, who owes between $250,000 and $500,000 on his home in Washington. “It’s not a vacation home here in Washington, D.C.”
Levin’s Home
Representative Levin of Michigan, the top Democrat on Ways and Means, backed the second-home break during an April hearing, saying many residents of his suburban district have “small second homes” in the rural northern part of the state. Levin owes $405,802 on a home in West Tisbury, Massachusetts, on Martha’s Vineyard.
“This is a very wealthy class of people for the most part,” said Allison, citing 2011 data from the Center for Responsive Politics that puts the average wealth of senators at $11.9 million and House members at $6.5 million. “If the idea of Congress was that you have the butcher, baker, candlestick maker representing the people, we’ve come to a system where we certainly don’t have that anymore.”