Hurricane Rita Relief Headed to President's Desk

Hurricane Rita Relief Headed to President's Desk

Gulf Opportunity Zone Act Gains House and Senate Approval

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Congressman Kevin Brady (R-The Woodlands) today urged the President to sign into law H.R. 4440 the Gulf Opportunity Zone Act as soon as it is transmitted to the White House. The Hurricane Rita relief provisions authored by Congressman Brady are a part of the Gulf Opportunity Zone Act which was approved today by the Senate and again in the House by unanimous consent propelling the legislation to the President's desk.

"Families and businesses hit hard by Hurricane Rita will have some relief signed into law hopefully before the New Year. I am encouraging the President to sign this measure into law as soon as possible," said Brady who has fought in Congress for Hurricane Rita affected communities to receive their fair share of federal aid for recovery.

The Gulf Opportunity Zone Act allows families with losses from Hurricane Rita to dip into IRA's and pensions without penalty, fully deduct all of their personal property losses from their itemized federal taxes and, for the working poor, makes sure their child and earned income tax credits are not impacted by the disaster.

It also permits unlimited cash donations to be deducted by corporations and provides up to $2,400 per worker for disaster impacted businesses to keep employees on the payroll through the end of the year.

To address the nearly $835 million impact on the Texas timber industry, the bill doubles to $20,000 the deduction for reforesting by private timber land owners and reduces their tax burden by spreading this year's losses against previous tax filings. Congressman Brady has been working with the Texas Forest Service, Texas Forestry Association, and the Hurricane Rita Timber Industry Response Task Force to place this relief in the bill.

Intense lobbying and negotiations by Congressman Brady and other members of the Texas delegation led to the addition of two more key wins for Texas being added to the original bill.

First, Texas will receive an additional allocation of $3.5 million in low-income housing tax credits to address the severe housing shortage brought on by the half million evacuees from Hurricane Katrina and displaced families from Hurricane Rita. This tax credit offers developers and landlords incentives to provide low cost housing to eligible families, in the communities where they live.

Additionally, the bill waives first-time homebuyer requirements so that eligible individuals whose homes were rendered uninhabitable by either hurricanes Rita, Katrina, or Wilma may qualify for low-interest rate mortgages financed by state mortgage revenue bonds. The provision also allows individuals to use up to $150,000 of these low-interest loans to repair their damaged home.

http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/tx08_brady/RitaRelieftoPOTUS.html