News

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Agriculture Department Secretary Tom Vilsack recently announced details of the Obama Administration’s new Healthy Food Financing Initiative, which is intended to provide a mix of federal tax incentives and funds to help finance the development of supermarkets and other healthy food options in under-served urban and rural communities.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is requesting comments on a proposed information collection project under which state housing credit agencies will gather data and information regarding the race, ethnicity, family composition, age, income, rental assistance, disability status, and monthly rental payments of households living in federal low-income housing tax credit projects.

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan has announced the selection of Richard Walega as HUD’s new Regional Director for New England, which comprises Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont.

A recent report from the U.S. Treasury Department shows that nearly 28,000 jobs have been created as a result of the Section 1602 low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) cash grant exchange program, created by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA).

The United States Senate voted, 70-28, today (Wednesday, 2/24)to pass Senator Harry Reid’s (D-Nev.) Jobs Bill. The $85 billion bipartisan jobs proposal was negotiated by the Finance Committee chairman, Max Baucus, D-Mont., and the committee’s top Republican, Charles E. Grassley of Iowa.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has announced a new affordable housing plan that would inject an additional $1 billion, bringing the total investment to build or preserve 165,000 units of affordable housing up to $8.5 billion.

Cris White has been identified by the Board of Directors as the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority’s (CHFA) finalist for its open Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer position. His official appointment will be made pending the state mandated 14-day notification period and barring any information that would affect his candidacy for the position.

The Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund recently announced that it is soliciting comments from the public concerning the CDFI Fund’s Quarterly New Markets Report (QNMR) for New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) allocatees under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA).

The New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency has released a draft of its proposed 2010 qualified allocation plan, which establishes selection criteria, application requirements, application fees, program restrictions and standards used for governing the state’s low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) program.

The California Tax Credit Allocation Committee (TCAC) has released the final program regulations for the administration of its 2010 low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) program.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has announced two public meetings to discuss a proposed rule that would change regulations for the Indian Housing Block Grant (IHBG) program and the Title VI Loan Guarantee program, created by the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Reauthorization Act of 2008.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a new report in late January on the New Markets Tax Credit Program entitled, “Credit Helps Fund a Variety of Projects in Low-Income Communities, but Could Be Simplified.” In the report, GAO describes where and how community development entities (CDE) are using NMTCs to finance development in low-income communities and describes options for simplifying the NMTC program.