Letter to The Honorable Max Baucus , Chairman and The Honorable Chuck Grassley, Ranking Member Senate Finance Committee

Floor Speech

Washington, DC, December 9, 2009.

Hon. MAX BAUCUS,
Chair, Senate Committee on Finance, Washington, DC.
Hon. CHARLES GRASSLEY,
Ranking Member, Senate Committee on Finance, Washington, DC.

DEAR CHAIRMAN BAUCUS AND RANKING MEMBER GRASSLEY:

We write to request your support for extending the placed-in-service date for affordable housing developments in the Gulf Opportunity Zone.

As you know, GO Zone low income housing tax credits have been vital in our effort to restoring the number of affordable housing units along the Gulf Coast. Tough economic conditions, however, have prevented many of these projects from moving forward at the pace necessary to meet the placed-in-service deadline of January 1, 2011.

Together this bipartisan group of Gulf Coast senators has been working to extend this deadline for two years, to allow 77 low income housing projects in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama to move forward and creating more than 13,000 construction-related jobs. This legislation would not allocate any new credits--it would merely provide additional time to take full advantage of the credits that were issued in the aftermath of the 2005 hurricanes.

Extending the place-in-service deadline is critical to improving the availability of affordable housing along the Gulf Coast. FEMA estimates that the 2005 storms destroyed or heavily damaged 82,000 rental units, of which 54,000 served low-income populations. During his August 27 visit to New Orleans, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan emphasized the need to revitalize this housing and highlighted the importance of a placed-in-service extension.

With an extension, developers will be able to attract investors to their proposed developments, have adequate time to overcome financial barriers triggered by the current economic crisis, and create more opportunities for residents displaced by the 2005 hurricanes to return home. Without an extension, more than 6,000 units are unlikely to be completed. The loss of more than $1 billion in economic activity--to the construction industry, suppliers, professionals, developers and others--would be a major blow to our states and the region.

Your initiative in helping the Gulf Coast to recover has been invaluable. It is our hope that the Senate Finance Committee will continue this leadership by including a placed-in-service extension in a tax extenders bill or other legislation this year. We appreciate your consideration of this request.

Sincerely,

Mary L. Landrieu,
United States Senator.

David B. Vitter,
United States Senator.

Roger F. Wicker,
United States Senator.

Thad Cochran,
United States Senator.

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