HR 4440 is through Congress

The Gulf Opportunity Zone bill is ready for signature. [UPDATE: No, it was signed this afternoon.] Sec. 104 extends the duration of special mortgage revenue bond provisions in the earlier Katrina Emergency Tax Relief Act of 2005 from 2007 through 2010. But most of all, Sec. 1400N(c) increases low-income housing tax credits by $18 per person in the entire Gulf Opportunity Zone along the Katrina-affected Gulf Coast; it raises the Texas and Florida tax credit ceilings by $3.5 million each; and it treats the entire Katrina, Rita and Wilma GO Zones as "Difficult Development Areas," entitled to extra tax credits per project, through the end of 2008. (Thanks to NH&RA for help parsing this item.)

[NH&RA also notes that HUD did get around to sending over some officials to respond to Congress on the agency's Katrina and Rita responses. The House Financial Services Committee has prepared statements posted for Chairman Oxley and HUD Assistant Secretaries Montgomery and Cabrera.]