Fall 2010 issue of Horizons

Across focused educational sessions, in the elite Housing Credit Marketplace, and at multiple networking events, top industry experts and their agency partners explored strategies for capitalizing on new opportunities in this rebounding industry. The RubinBrown team joined industry thought leaders for dialogue, intensive training, and roundtable exchanges. We covered today’s foremost issues in housing credit investment, development and management, including: • Anticipated legislative and regulatory program changes • The impact and future of TCAP and the Credit Exchange Program • The renaissance in the Housing Credit equity investment • Changing state allocation priorities and monitoring policies • New practices for deal structuring and financial underwriting • A new day in Housing Credit asset management • Emerging program issues and best practices Future of Extenders Bill Still Uncertain As of presstime, two critical housing credit tools —the Tax Credit Exchange Program extension and Housing Trust Fund and related voucher appropriations—face increased risk. Senate Majority Leader Reid (D-NV) moves to replace the pending tax extenders which are contained in H.R. 4213, with a simple extension of federal unemployment benefits. This strategy counts on the political imperative that extending unemployment benefits may provide sufficient Republican votes to pass it. Passage of the tax extenders bill has been stymied by opposition to its cost. Reid’s effort is expected to succeed, leaving the route to passage of other extender bill provisions in serious question.

It is not clear whether Senate leaders will attempt to resurrect the extenders bill or repackage some of its provisions into other bills. If the extenders bill remains stalled, NCSHA has been exploring with Senate tax committee leaders the possibility of including the exchange program extension, trust fund provisions, and possibly other NCSHA tax priorities in the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010, H.R. 5297. So far, those efforts have met resistance, not because of the substance of the 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.

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