Tax Extender Bill Passes House, Moves to Senate

On December 9, the House passed a $31 billion tax extender bill, H.R. 4213, as introduced by Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel (D-NY) on December 7.  The bill contains the one-year extension of the Housing Credit Exchange Program NCSHA advocated. 

The extender bill does not enlarge the Exchange Program to permit the exchange of 4 Percent or disaster (GO Zone and Midwest flood) Housing Credits.  In addition, it does not continue the two-year (2008 and 2009) temporary Housing Credit cap increase or extend the timeframe (2008-2010) in which states can utilize the $11 billion in Housing Bond authority provided under HERA, as NCSHA requested.   The bill also does not include the Housing Credit investor incentives NCSHA and our Housing Credit industry partners sought.   Chairman Rangel’s staff has told us that items such as these may be candidates for inclusion in a future jobs creation bill. 

House Democratic leaders and Chairman Rangel agreed to limit the tax extender bill strictly to one-year extensions of several current law tax provisions scheduled to expire at the end of this year.  They were not open to making program changes or extending provisions, like the HERA $11 billion Housing Bond provision, that expire in future years.   They tightly drew and enforced the bill’s parameters to help ensure its passage by discouraging members from seeking provisions outside of those parameters and by doing so, limiting the bill’s cost, so it could be fully offset.  They left no opportunity for member amendments, as they bypassed the Ways and Means Committee, taking the bill directly to the floor under a rule that prevented amendments. 

The action now shifts to the Senate, where Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) has expressed his intention to move a tax extender bill before Congress adjourns later this month.  However, the Senate’s preoccupation with healthcare reform and its inability to move off that legislation to take up any other legislation except conference reports may force it to put off tax extender legislation until next year.  Under another scenario, it is possible that the extender bill could be wrapped into a larger end-of-session omnibus appropriations and jobs-related safety-net-provisions bill that the Senate and House could negotiate and take to their respective floors in the form of a conference report before they adjourn. 

Meanwhile, Finance Committee members John Kerry (D-MA) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA) circulated among their colleagues a sign-on letter to Baucus and Ranking Member Charles Grassley (R-IA) supporting a one-year extension of the Housing Credit Exchange Program and its expansion to include 4 percent Credits, as well as Housing Credit investor incentives.