June 01, 2010
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On May 28, the House passed the American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act, H.R. 4213, after making several cost-reducing changes to the version House and Senate negotiators released May 20 to win enough votes to pass. These changes did not amend several NCSHA priority items in the bill, including: 

  • A one-year extension, through 2010, of the Housing Credit Exchange program;
  • A two-year extension, through 2012, of the placed-in-service date for properties financed with GO Zone Credits; and
  • $1 billion in funding for a one-time capitalization of the National Housing Trust Fund and $65 million for project-based vouchers to states to support Trust-financed properties.


The Senate will consider the House-passed bill when it returns from its Memorial Day recess June 7. On May 28, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said he expects the Senate to consider some amendments to the House-passed bill. These amendments are likely to focus on the same issues the House addressed, making adding new matter, such as NCSHA’s other Housing Bond and Credit priorities, including expanding the Exchange program to disaster and 4 percent Credits, an investor carry-back provision, and incentives for individual investors, unlikely candidates. However, we continue to explore the opportunity for amendment with the Finance Committee leadership.

In addition to the key housing provisions noted above and described in our May 20 blog post, the House-passed bill also includes:

  • A two-year extension, through 2012, of the Build America Bonds (BABs) program. For BABs issued in 2012, the amount of the direct payment would be reduced to 30 percent of the coupon interest. Issuers may issue BABs to effect a current refunding of outstanding BABs to save money if interest rates fall in the future.
  • Exemption from the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) for tax-exempt private activity bonds issued in 2011 and current refunding of private activity bonds issued after 2003 and refunded during 2011.
  • A one-year extension, through 2010, of a provision that allows states to waive certain rules that limit their ability to use tax-exempt housing bonds to provide loans to people that wish to acquire residences in federally declared disaster areas.
  • Exemption from the private activity bond volume cap for bonds financing water and sewage facilities. Bonds financing water and sewage facilities are also exempted from certain limitations on tribal government issuances.
  • A one-year extension, through 2010, of the New Market Tax Credits (NMTC), with a maximum annual amount of qualified equity investments of $5 billion, and allowance for NMTC to be claimed against the AMT with respect to qualified investments made between March 15, 2010 and January 1, 2012.