I am writing you from Washington, D.C. to alert you that there is a time-sensitive effort today being led by Rep. Randy Hultgren (R-IL-14^th), who is co-chair of Congressional Municipal Finance Caucus, to restore Private Activity Bonds in the House tax reform bill, H.R.1.  My October 27th blog described the damage that will be done to California if the Republican House tax reform proposal eliminates tax exempt private activity bonds (PABs) including multifamily housing bonds, thereby also eliminating California’s ability to use 4% Low Income Housing Tax Credits. In my November 8th blog, I noted that the elimination of PABs and therefore 4% Housing Credits would cost California $2.2 billion in federally catalyzed investments annually and lead to the loss of 20,000 affordable homes annually. Over a ten-year period assuming an average growth factor of 2.5%, this would mean the loss in California of:

It is critical for CA Republicans to voice their support of Hultgren’s efforts to Leader McCarthy, Speaker Ryan and Chairman Brady.  We have a small chance that Brady will restore PABs in the manager’s amendment for House consideration of HR 1, but Californians need to weigh in nowby calling and emailing California Representatives who have access to Chairman Brady, starting with Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy:

This message will be given more weight if it comes from someone in the Representative’s district or with properties in the district. So, please think of anyone you know who lives and works in these districts and forward this request to them.

To maximize the effectiveness of your emails, I suggest you download the fact sheet documenting the benefits that the Housing Credit has delivered to each Representative’s district by clicking here and selecting their names individually.

 

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