Congress

Committees in the House and Senate recently approved FY-2012 funding bills that would make deep cuts in the budget for HUD programs. And while both houses have expressed a firm commitment to preserving federal rental assistance for the low-income families, neither funding bill achieves this goal, according to a new report released by the Center on Budget & Policy Priorities (CBPP).

Senators Jim Webb (D-VA) and Mark Warner (D-VA) today introduced “The Rehabilitation of Historic Schools Act of 2011,” which provides a tax credit for communities to partner with private sector developers to rehabilitate the nation’s older school buildings.

U.S. Representative Brian Higgins (D-NY) last week introduced H.R. 3224 to extend the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) program through 2016.

The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) recently released a report detailing the usage of Housing Choice Vouchers (HCV). The report finds that in 2010, 2,083,187 families in the United States used HCVs yet only 91 percent of the National authorized vouchers were utilized…

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.