On the recordDecember 15, 2010
There are $890 billion worth of amendments and projects in the bill we are about to vote on. Within that, there is a package of $800 million in GO Zones, which was put together by me and my colleagues from the Gulf Coast. We fashioned it and created it. We are proud of it. It was supposed to be part of this much larger package. Lo and behold, all of it found its way in--except for $42 billion for low-income housing. That was the only thing left out of the GO Zones. Senator Vitter, myself, Senator Shelby, Senator Sessions, Senator Wicker, and Senator Cochran have cosponsored a one-line provision. This isn't an amendment to the bill; it is a provision to fix a mistake that has been acknowledged by the Finance chair, and actually by the Republican negotiators. They meant to include it, but they didn't because in order to include it, the low-income housing tax credits to build these units have to go to 2012. Everything else in the bill is 2011.
