Enterprise Strongly Supports the Job Creation and Affordable Housing Act Introduced by Senator Cantwell

COLUMBIA, Md., May 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Enterprise, a national leader in the affordable housing and community development industry, strongly supports the Job Creation and Affordable Housing Act of 2010 introduced today by Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.).  The bill will jump start investment in the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC), which is the most successful and largest affordable housing production program in U.S. history.

"This legislation will bring up to $5 billion in private investment back into the LIHTC market, which will lead to an infusion of jobs and housing in the rural communities where this type of investment has seen the sharpest decline in recent years," said Senator Maria Cantwell. "Our bill is based on consensus proposals developed by a broad coalition of affordable housing organizations – from state housing finance agencies to nonprofits like Enterprise."

Specifically, the legislation includes provisions to do the following three activities:

• Increase the "carryback" period for LIHTC from one to five years.  Tax rebates generated as a result of the longer carryback period must be reinvested in new LIHTC properties, thereby financing more housing and creating new construction jobs.
• Level the playing field for the LIHTC program by building in greater flexibility for utilizing credits.  For investments made after the date of enactment, investors who cannot use their credits in a particular year would be permitted to carryback their credits for up to five years.
• Extend the successful LIHTC exchange program, which was established under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, to the tax credits generated from housing financed by the tax-exempt Multifamily Housing Bond Program.

"The provisions in this bill are critical to the creation, preservation and rehabilitation of much-needed affordable rental housing," said Norman B. Rice, chairman of Enterprise Community Partners, Inc. "Enterprise applauds Sen. Cantwell for her leadership on this important program."

The financial crisis and resulting shortage of new equity from private sector investors has sharply reduced the level of investment in the LIHTC market during the past few years.  As a result, production of affordable rental housing in the U.S. has slowed significantly and tens of thousands of jobs are at risk of being eliminated.  If Congress does not act on S. 3326, the reduced level of investment will result is as many as 60,000 fewer affordable apartments built and 70,000 jobs lost annually in the coming years.

Senator Cantwell's bill includes two of three national consensus LIHTC proposals supported by an extraordinarily broad cross-industry coalition of 180 national, state and local LIHTC stakeholder organizations working together as part of the Affordable Rental Housing A.C.T.I.O.N. (A Call To Invest in Our Neighborhoods) Campaign. For more information on the A.C.T.I.O.N. campaign, please log on to www.rentalhousingaction.org.

Enterprise is a leading provider of the development capital and expertise it takes to create decent, affordable homes and rebuild communities. For more than 25 years, Enterprise has introduced neighborhood solutions through public-private partnerships with financial institutions, governments, community organizations and others that share our vision. Enterprise has raised and invested more than $10 billion in equity, grants and loans to help build or preserve more than 250,000 affordable rental and for-sale homes to create vital communities. Enterprise is currently investing in communities at a rate of $1 billion a year. Visit www.enterprisecommunity.org and www.enterprisecommunity.com to learn more about Enterprise's efforts to build communities and opportunity.   

SOURCE Enterprise Community Partners, Inc.