The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) continues to provide assistance for taxpayers dealing with difficult economic times through numerous outreach events that promote available tax credits and free tax services.

On Saturday, March 27, 2010, 181 IRS Taxpayer Assistance Centers across the country will host a Tax Assistance Day—click to see list for participating offices. Low income taxpayers and particularly those struggling financially can receive help preparing their tax returns and resolving a number of federal tax issues. Some local volunteer tax preparation sites will also be open that day to prepare current year tax returns.

Several recent tax law changes, coupled with applicable tax credits can really help those who may have lost jobs or whose income has significantly changed. Some will qualify for EITC for the first time because their incomes declined, or because of other changes affecting them economically. Others will benefit from a new allowance that excludes $2,400 in unemployment compensation from taxable income.

If your CAA is in an area that's participating in this event, please help spread the word. Encourage your program participants to visit an IRS office if they need free help with federal tax issues.

 

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From March 23 to March 26, the National Housing Conference and the Center for Housing Policy will host Housing Solutions Week 2010—a series of online announcements and events
focusing on solutions to solving the nation's affordable housing challenges. The week kicks off with the release of an updated Paycheck to Paycheck, the Center's online, interactive database
with information on more than 60 occupations and home prices and rents in more than 200 metropolitan areas.

For more information, go to www.housingpolicy.org/housing_solutions_week.html

Thanks to our longstanding colleagues at the National Low Income Housing Coalition—the Partnership is a member of this coalition—and our newer colleagues at Enterprise Community Partners, the Partnership joined with three dozen other prestigious national organizations in the letter below to Senate leadership urging funding for the National Housing Trust Fund.

To learn more about the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) and its Annual Policy Conference on April 11-14 in Washington, DC, visit www.nlihc.org

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March 19, 2010

The Honorable Harry Reid
Majority Leader
United States Senate

The Honorable Mitch McConnell
Minority Leader
United States Senate

Dear Leader Reid and Leader McConnell,

The 36 undersigned organizations write to express our disappointment that the U.S. Senate has not included funding for the National Housing Trust Fund (NHTF) in either H.R. 2847 passed on February 24 or H.R. 4213 passed on March 10, the two “jobs” bills that the Senate has passed so far in 2010. We urge that the Senate include $1.065 billion for the NHTF in the Small Business jobs bill or other legislative vehicle as soon as possible.

As you know, the National Housing Trust Fund was created in the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 to provide much needed housing opportunities for those with the lowest incomes. Initial funding was to come from contributions from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but those contributions were suspended before they could begin because of the financial crisis.

President Obama requested $1 billion to get the NHTF started in both his FY10 and FY11 budgets. The Department of the Treasury identified a tax offset to pay for the $1 billion and offered that suggestion to the Senate Finance Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee last fall.

In the meantime, Senator Jack Reed introduced legislation on September 30, 2009 to fund the NHTF with $1 billion from the proceeds from the sale of TARP warrants (S. 1731). House Financial Services Committee Barney Frank introduced a bill on October 9, 2009 to use $1.065 billion in TARP funds directly for the NHTF (H.R. 3766).

The House “Jobs for Main Street Act, 2010,” passed on December 16, 2009, includes $1.065 billion for the NHTF. TARP is the revenue source in that bill.

An infusion of $1 billion in capital funds into the NHTF will support the immediate production of 10,000 rental homes, creating 15,000 new construction jobs and 4,000 new jobs in ongoing operations. Based on the formula for distribution of the NHTF funds that HUD has published, NLIHC has estimated how much money each state will receive with the initial capitalization of $1 billion and how many jobs will be created as a result. Nevada will receive $9.9 million, which will create 287 new jobs. Kentucky would receive $9.2 million, which would create 174 new jobs. A state by state chart is attached.

These homes will help address the serious shortage of housing affordable and available for the lowest income families in the United States, including people who are unemployed or employed in the low wage work force, veterans, and elderly and disabled people on fixed incomes. Today, there are only 37 affordable and available rental homes for every 100 renter households with income at or below 30% of their area median ($19,620 a year in Las Vegas). This acute scarcity of housing that the poorest families can afford is the principle cause of homelessness in the United States.

Despite significant effort by the NHTF campaign and the strong support of many Senators (see attached letters), the Senate has not yet taken up this important issue. Given the significant unmet need for affordable housing and the high priority that many Senators have placed on getting this critical new housing resource to their states, we are mystified as to why the Senate has not acted to fund the NHTF.
We urge that the Senate give immediate attention to enactment of legislation to provide $1.065 billion for the NHTF ($1 billion to capitalize the NHTF and $65 million for project-based vouchers to couple with NHTF capital grants) at the soonest possible date.

Thank you for your consideration of this request.

Sincerely,

American Association for Homes and Services for the Aging
Center for Community Change
Coalition on Human Needs
Community Action Partnership
Consortium for Citizens With Disabilities Housing Task Force
Corporation for Supportive Housing
Enterprise Community Partners
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Family Promise
Housing Assistance Council
Jesuit Conference
Jewish Council for Public Affairs
Jewish Federations of North America
Lutheran Services in America
Local Initiatives Support Corporation
NAACP
National AIDS Housing Coalition
National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials
National Coalition for the Homeless
National Coalition on Asian Pacific American Community Development
National Center on Family Homelessness
National Community Reinvestment Coalition
National Council on Independent Living
National Health Care for the Homeless Council
National Housing Law Project
National Housing Trust
National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty
National Low Income Housing Coalition
NETWORK, A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby
Poverty & Race Research Action Council
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Washington Office
Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Leadership Team
Stewards of Affordable Housing for the Future
Technical Assistance Collaborative
United Methodist Church - General Board of Church and Society
Union for Reform Judaism
Volunteers of America

cc:
The Honorable Lamar Alexander
The Honorable Max Baucus
The Honorable Robert Bennett
The Honorable Sherrod Brown
The Honorable Susan Collins
The Honorable Christopher Dodd
The Honorable Byron Dorgan
The Honorable Richard Durbin
The Honorable John Ensign
The Honorable Russ Feingold
The Honorable Mike Johanns
The Honorable John Kerry
The Honorable Herb Kohl
The Honorable John Kyl
The Honorable Robert Menendez
The Honorable Jeff Merkley
The Honorable Jack Reed
The Honorable Bernie Sanders
The Honorable Olympia Snowe

The Corporation for Enterprise Development is a national nonprofit organization based in Washington, DC dedicated to expanding economic opportunity for low-income families and communities. CFED’s programs, research, & policy advocacy focus on these four issue areas:

• Savings and Financial Security
• Economic Development
• Entrepreneurship
• Affordable Housing

The Partnership is pleased to announce that Andrea Levere, CFED’s President, will be a featured speaker at our annual national convention in Boston, September 1st-3rd . Moreover, the Partnership is grateful to CFED’s Senior Legislative Director Carol Wayman for inviting the Partnership to participate in CFED’s Saver’s Credit Alliance, IDA Tax Credit Alliance, and the Alternative Data Initiative, all described below. To learn more about CFED’s great work, visit www.cfed.org

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Saver’s Credit Alliance

The Saver’s Credit Alliance is a group of forward-thinking national organizations and corporations with one common goal—supporting an expanded Saver’s Credit that will increase the net worth and retirement security of millions of low- to moderate-income working American families.

The Saver’s Credit was conceived and designed to incent savings in retirement accounts for low- and moderate-income households by providing a stronger savings subsidy for working households. However, due to a design flaw, fewer than 6 million workers annually claim this credit, a substantial underutilization of the policy.

Reform measures endorsed by the Alliance would benefit many of your constituencies, employees, clients. These include:

• Providing a flat 50% match on deposits into qualified retirement accounts up to $1,000/$500 per year for joint/single filer;
• Automatically depositing this match directly into a designated account through submission of IRS Form 8888; and
• Extending this benefit to households earning less than $65,000.

These improvements have the potential to fulfill the original intent of the saver’s credit and build the financial security of more than 50 million Americans! This bill is HR 1961 in the Senate and

Join the Alliance! Add your name to the list of organizations who have signed the Statement of Endorsement.

IDA Tax Credit Alliance

The IDA Tax Credit Alliance supports expanding Individual Development Accounts (IDAs) by providing a tax credit to financial institutions that match the savings of low-income families saving to make an asset-building investment.

The Alliance supports bringing IDAs to scale by endorsing the Savings for Working Families Act (SWFA) (S.985/H.R. 2277). SWFA proposes to expand IDAs from the current 85,000 to an additional 2.7 million low-income families who are savings to purchase a home, attend post-secondary education or start or expand a small business. The legislation would also provide funding for non-profits to provide financial education, a critical component of the successful IDA model.

Research on the impact of IDAs has revealed:

• More than 1,100 organizations have provided IDAs to more than 85,000 savers over ten years
• More than 35,000 asset purchases, including more than 9,400 new home purchases, 7,200 educational purchases and 6,400 small business start-ups or expansions
•· Accountholders have saved $72.3 million and leveraged an estimated $550 million in their communities
• IDA savers are 35% more likely to own a home, nearly twice as likely to attend college, and 84% more likely to own a business
• More than half of program graduates who previously received public assistance no longer receive assistance after completing the program
• Children of parents in IDA programs also developed and maintained savings patterns

SWFA garnered a record level of support last Congress. Join the Alliance and encourage legislators to enact SWFA in the 111th Congress.

Contact Camille Palacio at cpalacio@cfed.org to join the IDA Tax Credit Alliance and support the Savings for Working Families Act.

Alternative Data Initiative

CFED, along with our partners PERC and the Center for Financial Services Innovation, invite you to join the list of organizations supporting providing affirmative permission for full-file reporting.

Full-file reporting provides affirmative permission for telecommunications and utility companies to report on-time payment ot credit bureaus. This federal legislative proposal would not mandate reporting, but would provide affirmative consent for those firms that would like to fully report. Due to regulatory uncertainty or statutory/regulatory prohibitions in the states, only about fifteen firms fully report. Based on empirical research by PERC, reporting on time and late payment dramatically raises the credit score of no and thin-file consumers.

This change would greatly increase credit access for millions

• An estimated 35 to 50 million Americans have insufficient credit information to qualify for affordable mainstream credit. (Sources: Experian and FICO).
• The number of thin-file and no-file Americans may exceed 70 million, if immigrants are included. (Source: NCRA)
• Most outside the credit mainstream may only access credit from high-priced lenders including check-cashing services, payday lenders, and unscrupulous predatory lenders.
• It is estimated that each year Americans spend $4.2 billion on fees and charges for payday lenders, check cashing services, and predatory lenders. (Source: Center for Responsible Lending)
• Full-file reporting enables 22% of Latinos, 21% of African Americans, 14% of the elderly and 26% of low-income consumers to receive credit scores and access mainstream credit.

Our federal partners in the Office of Community Services (OCS, Administration for Children & Families, Department of Health & Human Services) asked the Partnership to chair a workgroup, “Job Creation and Green Jobs.” One purpose of this workgroup is to broaden and strengthen Community Action’s effectiveness with job training, placement, and systems linkages. We are pleased to invite Ron Painter, CEO of the National Association of Workforce Boards (NAWB) and a longstanding expert and advocate on workforce programs and policies, to work with us on this workgroup and on other Partnership activities. Also working with us will be a NAWB core consultant on green jobs, energy efficiency and workforce development, Tim Aldinger. Mr. Aldinger also consults with Quantum Builders for Sustainable Living in Berkeley, California and GTECH Strategies in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Future eNews issues will describe how Community Action local and state associations can participate in these initiatives.

Ron Painter (center) gets office briefing on the Community Action Partnership annual convention with
President/CEO Don Mathis and Lil Dupree, Director of Training

From left: Richard Green, VP, Asssociation Development and Strategic Partnerships, Marriott International; David Nostrum, Regional Vice President, Marriott International; and Avril Weisman, VP, Community Action Partnership

Reese Doakes, homeless runner from Philadelphia, and advocate of Back on My Feet, started running with BOMF and found it to be a life-changing program.

"Back on My Feet”
Launch in Washington, DC

Avril Weisman, Vice-President at Community Action Partnership, attended a breakfast on March 22 celebrating the Washington, DC launch of Back on My Feet (BOMF). The invitation came from Marriott International, a corporate sponsor of BOMF.

Back on My Feet is a nonprofit organization that promotes the self-sufficiency of the homeless population by engaging them in running as a means to build confidence, strength and self-esteem. Back on My Feet began in Philadelphia in 2007 and is expanding to cities throughout the country. Back on My Feet does not provide food nor does it provide shelter, but instead provides a community that embraces equality, respect, discipline, teamwork and leadership. BOMF launched on Monday, March 22nd at four shelter facilities in Washington, DC - Emery House, Clean and Sober Streets, Southeast Veterans and 801 East.

Back on My Feet envisions a community where all members have the support and motivation required to move towards self-sufficiency. Back on My Feet focuses on helping their members find a road of happiness, hope and opportunity, which includes a stable job and a place to live one step at a time.

CALL FOR PRESENTATIONS

You've spent years honing your skills and developing excellence in programs and services as a Community Action professional. Now share your experience and knowledge by submitting a proposal for consideration as a presentation at the 2010 Community Action Partnership Annual Convention in Boston, August 31 - September 3

The purpose of our Convention is to provide high-quality education and networking opportunities for our Community Action Network. Our multiple day, multiple track format offers a self-directed, facilitated learning environment with education sessions and interactive forums. Education sessions focus on current and emerging issues, best practices, and challenges facing Community Action practitioners, board members and senior staff. Presentations are designed for all levels of experience - from fundamental to intermediate to advanced topics.

You are invited to submit a written proposal. By submitting a proposal, you will help shape the educational component of the Convention and the future of Community Action. Click here to download the Call for Sessions. Presentation proposals must be received by April 30, 2010.

On Tuesday, August 31, we are planning to offer an exciting pre-conference all-day intensive session for Emerging Leaders. Plan to come and participate in interactive sessions on Community Action in the 21st Century, leadership versus management, modern branding, public speaking and more! Watch upcoming issues of the eNews and our website convention page for detailed information and registration.

To view or download the 2010 Annual Convention Brochure, click here. Hotel rooms are selling quickly at the Boston Marriott Copley Place. Click here to reserve online and assure your reservation is confirmed at the convention rate of $189.00 single or double.