Senate Banking Committee Ranking Member Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) introduced S.1205, Southeastern Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2011, which will provide assistance through temporary tax relief to parts of the Southeast that were recently affected by severe tornadoes and flooding.
The legislation applies to counties that have been “presidentially declared major disaster areas and determined by the President to warrant individual assistance for damage that occurred between April 13, 2011 and June 7, 2011”, which includes Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, and Tennessee. (See Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) website).
Among other things, the legislation would increase state Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) allocation to $8 per person until 2013. (Currently, states receive Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) allocation based on population). The legislation would also increase eligible states’ tax-exempt bond authority for affordable rental housing until 2018.
The legislation is co-sponsered by Senators Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), Mark Pryor (D-Ark.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Kay Hagan (D-N.C.), and James Inhofe (R-Okla.).
Click here for a brief summary of the legislation.
