ALERT: Push for Congressional Support During the Memorial Day Recess
The Congress is finishing its last week of business before adjourning for the Memorial Day recess, May 23-30. We anticipate that when the Congress returns in June, negotiations will begin in earnest on a comprehensive housing stimulus package. First and foremost, all of us need to be urging our members of Congress to act fast in negotiating a final, comprehensive housing stimulus bill. Second, we should be urging members to support the inclusion of Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) and bond modernization proposals to be included in the final bill.
As you know, the House bill — H.R. 3221, the American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act — contains a package of enhancements to the LIHTC and tax-exempt housing bond programs. The Senate housing stimulus efforts to date have not included similar provisions, but there is a Senate bill — S.2666, the Affordable Housing Investment Act of 2008, introduced by Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Gordon Smith (R-OR) — which contains many of the same critical provisions as the House bill. It is critical that when the House and Senate begin negotiations on a comprehensive housing stimulus package that the Senate can show strong support for LIHTC/Bond modernization through broad, bipartisan co-sponsorship of S.2666. That is where you come in.
The Memorial Day recess provides an excellent opportunity to talk with your Senators about co-sponsoring S.2666 and showing strong support for LIHTC/Bond modernization efforts during housing stimulus negotiations. Attached are three items to help you in this effort. First is a short set of talking points to guide you in your conversation with members of Congress. Second is a side-by-side comparison of the House and Senate modernization bills. Finally, there is a draft letter that you can use to formally urge your Senators to sign-on as co-sponsors of S.2666. We recommend that you personalize the letter to fit the specific local circumstances around affordable housing.
For contact information for local state offices for your Senator, click here and select your Senator from the list provided. That will take you to the public web site for your Senator where you will find a list of local offices with contact information. Again, we highly recommend that you follow up on any conversations you have with the Senators or their staff with a personalized letter based on the attached text.
Thank you for your continuing efforts to help us secure passage of LIHTC/Bond modernization legislation.
Download a copy of the Grassroots Letter to forward to colleagues and industry professionals or view the Talking Points.
Please contact Carmel McGuire or Greg Brown with any questions or for more information.
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