Future for Extenders Bill and NCSHA Priorities Unclear

Two critical NCSHA priorities—the Tax Credit Exchange Program extension and Housing Trust Fund and related voucher appropriations—face increased risk this week, as Senate Majority Leader Reid (D-NV) moves to replace the pending tax extenders and jobs bill, H.R. 4213, that contains them with a simple extension of federal unemployment benefits, calculating that the political imperative both parties feel to extend these benefits will provide sufficient Republican votes to pass it.

Passage of the tax extenders bill has been stymied for weeks by opposition to its cost. Reid’s effort is expected to succeed, leaving the route to passage of other extender bill provisions, including NCSHA’s priorities, in serious question.  It is not clear at this writing whether Senate leaders will attempt to resurrect the extenders bill or repackage some of its provisions into other bills.

NCSHA has been exploring for several weeks now with Senate tax committee leaders the possibility of including the Exchange Program extension, Trust Fund provisions, and possibly other NCSHA tax priorities, such as the HERA Housing Bond authority extension, Exchange Program disaster and 4 percent Credit expansions, and Housing Credit investor incentives, in the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010, H.R. 5297, should the extenders bill remain stalled.  So far, our efforts have met resistance, not because of the substance of our provisions, but because of Reid’s determination not to enlarge the bill’s scope or cost, so as to avoid the extender bill’s fate.  Reid is concerned that increasing the bill’s size will cost him the Republican votes he needs to pass it and expose it to an onslaught of amendments.   Reid hopes to move this bill quickly, once the unemployment benefits measure passes.

You can be helpful now by reminding your senators, particularly your Finance Committee members, of the urgent need to enact the above-referenced Housing Credit and Bond provisions in a tax bill this year.  Please make sure to ask them to communicate their support to Reid and Minority Leader McConnell (R-KY), as well as Finance Committee Chairman Baucus (D-MT) and Ranking Member Grassley (R-IA).   Please act now.

For more information, call or e-mail Garth Rieman or Barbara Thompson.