A few months ago the Obama administration put out a “white paper” on potential outcomes for the demise of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

There was much debate about it at the time, but since then there’s been something of a calm after the storm.

Republicans made it clear they want government out of the mortgage business, and democrats just the opposite; hence the quiet.

Now comes a bi-partisan bill from a California Republican and a Michigan Democrat, that could be the first to get some real traction.

Rep. John Campbell (R-California) and Rep. Gary Peters (D-Michigan) are looking to keep the government as a backstop to the mortgage market, an a very measured and limited way. Their bill (HR 1859) does away with Fannie and Freddie and replaces them with no fewer than five “government-chartered” entities. These would securitize mortgages, as Fannie and Freddie do, with a government guarantee. To pay for that guarantee, the entities would pay the government a fee, as well as be required to follow certain strict standards of underwriting and loan size. The entities would also have to hold on to far more capital than Fannie and Freddie do.

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