H.C.R. 3

1

RESOLUTION ON AFFORDABLE HOUSING
2 2000 GENERAL SESSION
3 STATE OF UTAH
4 Sponsor: Afton B. Bradshaw
5 A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION OF THE LEGISLATURE AND THE GOVERNOR
6 EXPRESSING SUPPORT FOR INCREASING THE AMOUNT OF THE PRIVATE ACTIVITY
7 BOND CAP AND LOW-INCOME HOUSING CREDITS ALLOCATED TO UTAH BY THE
8 UNITED STATES CONGRESS AND TO INDEX INCREASES TO INFLATION IN FUTURE
9 YEARS.
10 Be it resolved by the Legislature of the state of Utah, the Governor concurring therein:
11 WHEREAS, the policy of the state of Utah is to assure the health, safety, and welfare of
12 its citizens;
13 WHEREAS, an adequate supply of tax-exempt private activity bond volume cap is
14 essential in financing affordable, decent first-time home ownership opportunities in Utah and
15 throughout the nation;
16 WHEREAS, an adequate supply of low-income housing tax credits is critical to financing
17 affordable, decent rental housing units that contribute to the well being of the citizens of the state;
18 WHEREAS, the United States Congress, in the Tax Reform Act of 1986, established
19 restrictions on tax-exempt private activity municipal bonds effective January 1, 1988 that imposed
20 a limit, based on each state's population, not to exceed the greater of $50 per capita or
21 $150,000,000 per calendar year, but failed to include an automatic inflationary multiplier to ensure
22 that the purchasing power of this resource did not become diluted;
23 WHEREAS, because of Utah's relatively small population, the amount of tax-exempt
24 private activity bonding for the state has been limited to $150,000,000 each calendar year, an
25 inadequate amount to meet the tax-exempt private activity financing demands of the state of Utah
26 and its agencies and political subdivisions;
27 WHEREAS, the United States Congress, in the Tax Reform Act of 1986, established

28 restrictions on the low-income housing tax credit that imposed a limit based on each state's
29 population to be equal to $1.25 per capita per calendar year, but failed to include an automatic
30 inflationary multiplier to ensure that the purchasing power of this resource did not become diluted;
31 WHEREAS, since 1987 the effects of annual inflation have diluted the purchasing power
32 of Utah's tax-exempt private activity bonding cap and the low-income housing tax credits by
33 50.2%, thereby reducing the real purchasing value of Utah's share of this bonding resource from
34 $150,000,000 in 1987 to only $74,000,000 and reducing the real purchasing value of Utah's share
35 of annual per capita amounts of the low-income housing tax credit resource from $1.25 per capita
36 in 1987 to $0.62 per capita in 1999;
37 WHEREAS, losing $75,300,000 in the real value of tax-exempt private activity bonding
38 resource along with $0.63 of annual per capita credits from the low-income housing tax credit
39 resource has been devastating to the ability of this state and the nation to provide adequate
40 affordable housing opportunities to its lower income constituents by reducing nearly in half the
41 number of single-family housing units and multifamily housing units available and affordable to
42 the ever-increasing number of lower-income, first-time home buyers and renters in Utah and
43 caused many of these families to remain in substandard housing; and
44 WHEREAS, if the state and its agencies and political subdivisions continue to be unable
45 to provide adequate levels of tax-exempt private activity bond financing and low-income housing
46 tax credit financing for these purposes, the health, safety, and welfare of the citizens of the state
47 will be further negatively impacted:
48 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of the state of Utah, the
49 Governor concurring therein, urge the United States Congress to immediately increase the
50 tax-exempt private activity volume cap and the allocation of low-income housing tax credits
51 available to Utah to levels that would fully restore the tax-exempt private activity bond volume cap
52 purchasing power and the low-income housing tax credit purchasing power of the states to levels
53 that would offset the diluted effects of inflation since 1987, and to index increases for these
54 resources to inflation in future years.
55 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution be sent to the leadership of
56 the majority and minority parties of the United States Congress and the members of Utah's
57 congressional delegation.

Legislative Review Note
as of 12-28-99 9:07 AM

A limited legal review of this legislation raises no obvious constitutional or statutory concerns.

Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel