Legislative Pulse
The CAA Legislative Pulse is a monthly newsletter designed to keep Charleston Apartment Association members abreast of topical political news impacting our industry. The CAA Legislative Pulse will be released to members the fourth Tuesday of each month.
New NAA/NMHC Ad Campaign Promotes How Apartments Create Jobs
NAA/NMHC
have created a new advertising campaign targeting federal, state and
local policymakers. The six new ads include a full-page issue ad that
appeared in Politico newspaper on NAA's Lobby Day to tell 33,000
politically influential readers how apartments create jobs. Several of
the ads emphasize how the apartment industry will create 300,000 new
jobs in 2012 alone. The ads also carry messages to state and local
policymakers, focusing on how the nation's changing demographics and
lifestyle preferences are drawing more people to rental housing.
NAA/NMHC will place these ads in key publications throughout the year.
The
ads are also available for NAA affiliates and member companies to
customize with their own logos and place in state and local print and
online media. A CD with all of the 8"x10" and 5"x7"ads as well as logo
placement guidelines is available. An accompanying brochure is
available too. To order the CD or brochure ($20 for a pack of 25),
contact Carole Roper at
carole@naahq.org.
*Content source: National Apartment Association.
Are You the Apartment Industry's Member Advocate of the Year?
Do you engage with your members of Congress to ensure that NAA has a
voice in federal legislation?
If
you do, then you could become the first Apartment Industry Mobilization
Service (AIMS) Member Advocate of the Year. This new award will
recognize an outstanding individual who exemplifies the qualities of
true grassroots advocacy and inspires other industry members to promote
apartment-friendly policies with their elected officials. The award
covers advocacy leadership from Jan. 1 up to Sept. 17, 2012, which is
the nomination deadline. The AIMS Member Advocate of the Year will be
recognized at the Assembly of Delegates meeting in November and featured
in an upcoming issue of
Units magazine. For details and the nomination form,
go here. For more information, contact Kathleen Gamble at
Kathleen@naahq.org or 703/797-0633.
AIMS
is the apartment industry's grassroots network operated under NAA and
NMHC's Joint Legislative Program. AIMS represents more than 58,000
multifamily housing advocates.
*Content source: National Apartment Association.
Meeting with Congressman Tim Scott
By Ellen Hoffman
On
August 15, 2012, Victoria Cowart, Tori Stein and Ellen Hoffman took
advantage of the Congressional recess and met with Congressman Tim Scott
while he was in Charleston. We took the opportunity to educate the
Congressman of the benefits our industry offers and the impact it has on
national, state and local economies. We discussed one of our
industries most critical and time sensitive issues, which is taxes. We
concentrated on tax cuts and incentives that have expired or are about
to expire, as well as long-term comprehensive tax reform. We focused
on five significant tax issues: the Bush tax cuts, tax extenders,
carried interest, estate tax and capital gains.
Owners,
operators and managers of multifamily housing require certainty
regarding the tax code to ensure that they can make key decisions on
constructing, rehabilitating and managing properties. Given that tax
reform will take time to enact and that the economy has not fully
recovered, we support extending present law tax rules for all taxpayers
and oppose proposals to allow the Bush tax cuts to expire for taxpayers
with incomes over certain thresholds.
Extend the Bush Tax Cuts and Tax Extenders
Since
tax reform will take time to enact and the economy has not fully
recovered, Congress should extend the following tax laws: Bush Tax
Cuts: Absent an extension, ordinary income tax rates will rise
starting in 2013 and range from 15% to 39.6% instead of today's 10% to
35%. Additionally, capital gains and dividends, which today are taxed
at a maximum of 15%, will face higher rates in 2013. Capital gains will
be taxed at rates of up to 20% while dividends will be taxed at
ordinary income tax rates of up to 39.6%. Finally, while today's estate
tax features a $5 million exemption and 35% top rate, next year the
exemption will drop to $1 million and the top rate will surge to 55%.
Tax Extenders: Approximately five dozen tax provisions known as tax
extenders expired at the end of 2011. The Energy Efficient New Homes
Tax Credit, the New Markets Tax Credit, expensing of brown-field
remediation, and the flat 9% Low-Income Housing Tax Credit are valuable
incentives and should be renewed.
Enact Comprehensive Tax Reform and Protect Partnerships
The
industry agrees on the need for tax reform and strongly supports a
stable tax code that promotes investment in rental housing without
unfairly burdening apartment owners and renters relative to other asset
classes.
Maintain the Current Tax Treatment of Carried Interest
Proposals
to raise taxes on carried interest do not just affect Wall Street, they
also affect Main Street because they include partnerships of which 46%
are real estate based. This tax change would have a chilling effect on
job creation and our supply of workforce housing.
Extend the Current Law Estate Tax
In
the interest of promoting certainty and stability in the tax code, the
apartment industry urges Congress to swiftly enact permanent estate tax
legislation that retains a stepped-up basis system along with a $5
million exemption and a 35% rate.
Capital Gains and Dividends
Today
both capital gains and dividends are taxed at a top rate of 15%.
Beginning in 2013, capital gains will face a maximum rate of 20% and
dividends will be taxed at ordinary income tax rates of up to 39.6%.
At
the end of our meeting, we asked Congressman Scott to act now to renew
expiring tax cuts and then reform the code to ensure that the apartment
industry can make key decisions on constructing, rehabilitating and
managing our properties. The Congressman was very receptive to our
concerns. When asked about the future, he explained that there will be
very different directions Congress will need to take based on the
outcome of this upcoming election.
We
thanked Congressman Scott for his time and support. Additionally, we
offered him several fact sheets to review and an invitation to attend
any of our Charleston Apartment Association's events.
Ellen Hoffman
CAA Treasurer & Legislative Chairperson
Nirenblatt, Nirenblatt & Hoffman
PO Box 30789
Charleston, SC 29417
(843) 571-2210
