Congresswoman Nancy L. Johnson (R-CT), Chairman, Subcommittee on Oversight of the Committee on Ways and Means, today announced that the Subcommittee will hold a two-day hearing on the administration of the low-income housing tax credit. The first hearing day will be conducted on Wednesday, April 23, 1997, in room B-318 of the Rayburn House Office Building, beginning at 1:30 p.m. The second hearing day will take place on Thursday, May 1, 1997, in the main Committee hearing room, 1100 Longworth House Office Building, beginning at 10:00 a.m.
Oral testimony on April 23 will be received from invited witnesses, including representatives of the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and the National Council of State Housing Agencies. The Subcommittee will receive testimony from public witnesses on May 1. Also, any individual or organization not scheduled for an oral appearance may submit a written statement for consideration by the Committee or for inclusion in the printed record of the hearing.
BACKGROUND:
The low-income housing tax credit (LIHC) is the largest Federal program to fund the development and rehabilitation of low-income housing. According to GAO, if all the credits authorized over a 10-year period were awarded by the States to completed projects and used by investors, the annual cost to the Treasury would be over $3 billion.
As part of the Committee's oversight of the tax credit program, Chairman Bill Archer asked GAO to study the administration and operation of the credit to determine: (1) how efficiently the IRS is administering and monitoring the LIHC, (2) what controls exist at the State level to ensure that the credit is applied as intended and that costs are reasonable, (3) what controls exist to ensure that States do not certify buildings as eligible for the credit beyond the amount allocated by State housing authorities, (4) the characteristics of the individuals residing in the units produced by the credits (i.e., whether residents fit the characteristics of individuals and families for whom the program is intended), and (5) such other issues as may arise during the course of the examination. Chairman Archer asked Subcommittee Chairman Johnson to oversee the study. The study has been completed by GAO and was released by Chairman Archer on April 9, 1997.
In announcing the hearing, Chairman Johnson stated: "The GAO's work will be tremendously helpful to the Subcommittee in determining how well the low-income housing credit is being administered. It appears that there are several opportunities to improve enforcement, and it is my hope that these hearings will help the Subcommittee develop recommendations to strengthen oversight and monitoring of compliance."
FOCUS OF THE HEARING:
The hearing will focus on the issues addressed by the GAO study and the findings, including characteristics of the residents and properties that have benefitted from the LIHC, and the controls the IRS and the States are using to ensure that priority housing needs are being met, i.e., project costs (including tax costs) are reasonable, and that States and project owners comply with the program requirements.
DETAILS FOR SUBMISSIONS OF REQUESTS TO BE HEARD:
Requests to be heard on Thursday, May 1, 1997, must be made by telephone to Traci Altman or Bradley Schreiber at (202) 225-1721 no later than the close of business, Wednesday, April 23, 1997. The telephone request should be followed by a formal written request to A.L. Singleton, Chief of Staff, Committee on Ways and Means, U.S. House of Representatives, 1102 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20515. The staff of the Subcommittee on Oversight will notify by telephone those scheduled to appear as soon as possible after the filing deadline. Any questions concerning a scheduled appearance should be directed to the Subcommittee on Oversight staff at (202) 225-7601.
In view of the limited time available to hear witnesses, the Subcommittee may not be able to accommodate all requests to be heard. Those persons and organizations not scheduled for an oral appearance are encouraged to submit written statements for the record of the hearing. All persons requesting to be heard, whether they are scheduled for oral testimony or not, will be notified as soon as possible after the filing deadline.
Witnesses scheduled to present oral testimony are required to summarize briefly their written statements in no more than five minutes. THE FIVE-MINUTE RULE WILL BE STRICTLY ENFORCED. The full written statement of each witness will be included in the printed record, in accordance with House Rules.
In order to assure the most productive use of the limited amount of time available to question witnesses, all witnesses scheduled to appear before the Subcommittee are required to submit 200 copies of their prepared statement and a 3.5-inch diskette in WordPerfect or ASCII format, for review by Members prior to the hearing. Testimony should arrive at the Subcommittee on Oversight office, room 1136 Longworth House Office Building, no later than 48 hours before the hearing date. Failure to do so may result in the witness being denied the opportunity to testify in person.
WRITTEN STATEMENTS IN LIEU OF PERSONAL APPEARANCE:
Any person or organization wishing to submit a written statement for the printed record of the hearing should submit at least six (6) copies of their statement and a 3.5-inch diskette in WordPerfect or ASCII format, with their address and date of hearing noted, by the close of business, Thursday, May 15, 1997, to A.L. Singleton, Chief of Staff, Committee on Ways and Means, U.S. House of Representatives, 1102 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20515. If those filing written statements wish to have their statements distributed to the press and interested public at the hearing, they may deliver 200 additional copies for this purpose to the Subcommittee on Oversight office, room 1136 Longworth House Office Building, at least one hour before the hearing begins.
FORMATTING REQUIREMENTS:
Each statement presented for printing to the Committee by a witness, any written statement or exhibit submitted for the printed record or any written comments in response to a request for written comments must conform to the guidelines listed below. Any statement or exhibit not in compliance with these guidelines will not be printed, but will be maintained in the Committee files for review and use by the Committee.
1. All statements and any accompanying exhibits for printing must be typed in single space on legal-size paper and may not exceed a total of 10 pages including attachments. At the same time written statements are submitted to the Committee, witnesses are now requested to submit their statements on a 3.5-inch diskette in WordPerfect or ASCII format.
2. Copies of whole documents submitted as exhibit material will not be accepted for printing. Instead, exhibit material should be referenced and quoted or paraphrased. All exhibit material not meeting these specifications will be maintained in the Committee files for review and use by the Committee.
3. A witness appearing at a public hearing, or submitting a statement for the record of a public hearing, or submitting written comments in response to a published request for comments by the Committee, must include on his statement or submission a list of all clients, persons, or organizations on whose behalf the witness appears.
4. A supplemental sheet must accompany each statement listing the name, full address, a telephone number where the witness or the designated representative may be reached and a topical outline or summary of the comments and recommendations in the full statement. This supplemental sheet will not be included in the printed record.
The above restrictions and limitations apply only to material being submitted for printing. Statements and exhibits or supplementary material submitted solely for distribution to the Members, the press and the public during the course of a public hearing may be submitted in other forms.
The
Committee seeks to make its facilities accessible to persons with
disabilities. If you are in need of special accommodations, please
call 202-225-1721 or 202-225-1904 TTD/TTY in advance of the event
(four business days notice is requested). Questions with regard to
special accommodation needs in general (including availability of
Committee materials in alternative formats) may be directed to the
Committee as noted above.