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Cloture Motion Fails on Senate Tax Extenders Bill

Published on May 15, 2014 by NCSHA Staff
Cloture Motion Fails on Senate Tax Extenders Bill

This afternoon, the Senate failed to achieve cloture on tax extender legislation, H.R. 3474.  This means the Senate will not consider the bill further for the foreseeable future, which could be until after the fall midterm elections in November.  While the bill enjoys strong bipartisan support, virtually all Republicans voted against cloture because of a disagreement with the Senate Democratic leadership on what and how many amendments the Republicans would be allowed to offer on the bill.

Reported by the Finance Committee on April 3, the bill contains provisions to extend the 9 percent Housing Credit rate floor for allocations made in 2014 and 2015 and to also establish in those years a 4 percent Credit rate floor for the acquisition Credit.  (The 4 percent floor would not apply to tax-exempt bond-financed developments.)  NCSHA has long sought permanent 9 and 4 percent acquisition Credit rate floors.  The bill also extends some 50 other tax provisions.

The House is taking a very different approach to tax extender legislation, with Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) moving through his Committee in individual bills the six extenders his tax reform discussion draft calls to make permanent.  The full House passed the first of those Committee-reported permanent extenders, the Research and Development Credit, on May 9.

Camp has said that Committee members who wish to advance other tax extenders will need to put forward for the Committee’s consideration individual bills, but he has provided little more information on how this process would work.  Camp has also said that it is possible his Committee may consider later in the year legislation extending a group of expiring provisions.

Meanwhile, Revenue Measures Subcommittee Chairman Pat Tiberi (R-OH) and Ranking Member Richard Neal (D-MA) are preparing to introduce later this month legislation they sponsored in the last Congress, H.R. 3661, to establish on a permanent basis the 9 percent and 4 percent acquisition Housing Credit rate floors.  We believe a strong bipartisan show of support for this legislation, especially among Ways and Means Committee members, would help to convince Camp to move it forward.