Congress

Housing & Urban Development Director Shaun Donovan last week traveled to Columbus, Ohio to help popularize the Project Rebuild initiative that has been proposed as part of President Obama’s American Jobs Act.

On Thursday, October 6th, the Insurance, Housing and Community Opportunity Subcommittee of the House Financial Services Committee held a hearing entitled, “The Obama Administration’s Response to the Housing Crisis.” The hearing examined the Administration’s response to the housing crisis, including new proposals announced by the President during his recent speech to a joint session of Congress.

U.S. Congressmen Jim McDermott (D-WA), Erik Paulsen (R-MN), and Keith Ellison (D-MN) have introduced a bill that would update the existing tax law to allow formerly homeless young people to pursue a four-year college education and still qualify for Low Income Housing Tax Credits housing units.

PowerPoint presentations from the Affordable Housing Underwriting Forum & NCAHMA Annual Meeting are now available for download.

Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) has introduced S. 1575, the Energy-Efficient Cool Roof Jobs Act. The legislation provides economic incentives to upgrade and modernize commercial roofs by reducing the depreciation schedule for commercial roof retrofits.

President Obama intends to nominate Maurice A. Jones to succeed the retired Ronald C. Sims for the position of Deputy Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

U.S. Representative Bruce Braley (D-IA) last week introduced the Rebuilding Communities Act (H.R. 2901), which would extend a provision enacted in 2008 that increased the historic tax credit to 26 percent and the rehabilitation tax credit to 13 percent in Midwestern communities affected by natural disasters.

Last week, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) urging them to extend the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) Program and called for its inclusion in a Congressional jobs strategy.

Reznick Group’s Tax Credit Investment Services (TCIS) team has released the first in a series of periodic reports addressing the performance of properties financed with low-income housing tax credits. Given the scrutiny of all federal income tax expenditures and the recent market fluctuations, this is an appropriate time to examine whether these properties are meeting their financial obligations and the needs of the markets they serve.

The House of Representatives Appropriations Transportation – Housing & Urban Development Subcommittee has released a draft funding bill for FY-2012. It is scheduled to be marked up by the committee today, Thursday September 8. The measure calls for $55.15 billion in discretionary spending across the two agencies, $19.8 billion less than President Obama’s request and $217 million below current spending. The bill would provide $16.7 billion to the Transportation Department, a $3 billion increase over current spending, and $38.1 billion for the Housing and Urban Development Department, a $3 billion cut.

In a primetime speech before the US Congress on September 8, President Obama announced proposal called the “American Jobs Act”. The proposal includes a major new $15 billion initiative called “Project Rebuild” that is targeted towards Rehabilitating Homes, Businesses and Communities. The proposal builds on the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP).

U.S. Senator Mark Begich (D-AK), chairman of the Senate Democratic Steering and Outreach Committee, called for President Barack Obama to expand the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) as part of his jobs initiative.