[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 24 (Wednesday, February 24, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E229]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 LOW-INCOME HOUSING TAX CREDIT EXCHANGE EXPANSION AND JOB CREATION ACT 
                                OF 2010

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. LINDA T. SANCHEZ

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 24, 2010

  Ms. LINDA T. SANCHEZ of California. Madam Speaker, I rise today to 
introduce the ``Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Exchange Expansion and 
Job Creation Act of 2010,'' legislation combating the housing and 
unemployment crises.
  The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit is the nation's largest and most 
successful affordable rental housing production program. It has 
financed more than two million homes since 1987 and about 120,000 
annually in recent years. This program provides tax credits to 
developers who agree to build or rehabilitate affordable housing. It 
includes both ``9 percent'' credits, which state housing finance 
agencies can allocate in amounts up to a state-level ceiling, and ``4 
percent'' credits, which are available to all developers who receive 
allocations of tax-exempt bonds to build rental housing.
  The American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) of 2009 contained a 
provision that enabled the temporary exchange of unusable low-income 
housing credits. This exchange has enabled more than 600 affordable 
housing developments to proceed around the country, providing 
affordable homes to more than 30,000 low-income families and creating 
more than 35,000 jobs. The ARRA provision allowed investors to exchange 
low-income housing credits for grants at 85 percent of the value of the 
credits at virtually no cost to the federal government. Unfortunately, 
this provision only applied to 9 percent housing credits.
  My legislation would expand this temporary credit exchange 
opportunity to include 4 percent credits. In 2007, prior to the 
financial markets crisis, states partnered with private developers 
using 4 percent housing credits to create nearly 70,000 rental homes 
affordable to low-income working Americans and 85,000 housing-related 
jobs. In 2008 and 2009, the number of affordable homes and jobs 
produced by the 4 percent credit program fell by nearly 50 percent as 
capital available for investment disappeared.
  I am introducing this bill because our country cannot afford to let 
this valuable 4 percent tax credit program fall into disuse due to the 
economy's downturn at a time when our country is in desperate need of 
more jobs and more affordable places for low-income families to live. 
Providing a safe and stable home gives families the critical foundation 
to find employment, get an education, and play an active role in their 
communities. Passage of this bill will allow cost effective investments 
leading to both more jobs and more housing for low-income working 
Americans and benefit our communities for years to come.
  I hope that you will join me in supporting this legislation.

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