Bipartisan Bills Would Give Tax Relief to Disaster-Stricken Areas

On July 16, bipartisan bills were introduced in both the House and the Senate to provide tax relief to communities affected by natural disasters from 2012 to 2015. The legislation includes provisions to increase allocations of low-income housing tax credits and new market tax credits. The National Disaster Tax Relief Act would provide an increased LIHTC allocation equal to the higher of $8 per person in qualifying disaster areas or 50 percent of a state’s annual LIHTC ceiling. This particular provision is one of a dozen in the bill that would not be available just for areas hit by disasters in the past several years, but to all affected communities going forward on a permanent basis. This change from previous versions of this legislation is intended to ensure that affordable rental homes are made available in a timely manner without having to wait for the passage of new legislation.

The Senate bill (S. 1795), sponsored by Senators David Vitter (R-LA), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), and Charles Schumer (D-NY), has six additional co-sponsors. The House bill (H.R. 3110), introduced by Reps. Tom Reed (R-NY) and Bill Pascrell (D-NJ) has 13 additional co-sponsors—10 Republicans and three Democrats.