APARTMENT ADVOCATE
NATIONAL APARTMENT ASSOCIATION / NATIONAL MULTIFAMILY HOUSING COUNCIL
Clock is ticking for congressional action
Only a handful of weeks remain before the Senate and House leave town for a longer than usual summer recess from mid-July to early September. There is a ton of work left to complete before the 114th Congress adjourns – and much of it could directly impact and shape the future of our industry.
Appropriations Process: Critical to Industry Priorities
Each year, Congress must enact legislation to keep the government running. That process requires that lawmakers first pass a budget resolution and then 12 appropriations bills funding government agencies and their programs. NAA / NMHC pay particular attention to the appropriations process because funding and administrative decisions are made through this process on multifamily-specific policies and programs such as FHA, fair housing, the Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 8, energy efficiency and building codes.
The appropriations process can also be used to mitigate harmful, burdensome rules and regulations that impact the apartment housing industry like Waters of the U. S.( WOTUS), Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing, disparate impact, lead-based paint, criminal background screening and the recently finalized labor overtime rule.
Tax Reform Negotiations: Fundamental to Multifamily Business
No one expects real progress this year on tax reform, but House and Senate tax writers are
crafting tax reform proposals. In a letter to the Senate Finance Committee on April 26, NAA / NMHC outlined the apartment housing industry’ s key priorities for tax reform. Owners, operators and developers of apartment housing have a considerable stake in the outcome of how to reform and simplify the nation’ s tax code. Industry participants pay federal tax at each stage of an apartment’ s lifecycle, when properties are built, operated, sold or transferred to heirs.
Both Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch( R-Utah) and Ranking Member Ron Wyden( D-Ore.) have signaled that they are working on reform proposals. Chairman Hatch is seeking to tax income earned by U. S. C corporations a single time while Wyden has offered proposals to overhaul cost recovery rules and the
NATURAL DOG PARK PRODUCTS
FLAGS BY SUSAN
WWW. FLAGSBYSUSAN. COM ORDER ONLINE TODAY!
Phone: 800-931-1562 www. GymsForDogs. com
Sales @ GymsForDogs. com
( 303) 317-3612
• Custom Flags
• Affordable Flagpoles for Apartments
• No Helium Balloons
• Banners / Signs
• Quality U. S., State and Country Flags
26 | TRENDS • JULY 2016 www. aamdhq. org