HBA-MPA H.R. 1048 76(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.R. 1048 By: Ehrhardt Urban Affairs 5/28/1999 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The federal Tax Reform Act of 1986 placed a unified volume cap on the issuance of most private activity debt by states and local governments; in more populated states such as Texas, the effective cap is $50 per capita. The bond cap has since remained constant in the face of intervening inflation, and consequently its purchasing power has eroded by more than 30 percent, hindering the state's ability to invest in its communities and to create jobs. A pressing need in Texas is affordable housing; the state currently allocates approximately $314 million of its cap to single-family housing and targets another $74 million for multi-family housing. Demand for affordable housing is greater than ever; more than 1.9 million Texas families will need some form of housing assistance within the next year, a number that can only increase as the state's population grows and the available housing stock diminishes. The United States Congress in the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1998 has consented to a 50 percent bond cap increase, raising the per capita limit to $75, but that increase is phased in over five years, delaying its full usefulness for close to a decade. Two proposed congressional measures, S. 459 and H.R. 864, each styled the State and Local Investment Opportunities Act of 1999, would raise the per capita bond cap immediately from $50 to $75 and lend a timely helping hand to the many Texans who seek affordable housing RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this resolution does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. ANALYSIS Provides that the House of Representatives of the 76th Texas Legislature respectfully urge the Congress of the United States to support legislation providing for an immediate increase of the per capita tax-exempt private activity bond cap. Provides that the chief clerk of the House of Representatives forward official copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to the speaker of the house of representatives and the president of the senate of the United States Congress, and to all the members of the Texas delegation to the congress with the request that this resolution be officially entered in the Congressional Record as a memorial to the Congress of the United States of America.