September 2009

The NMTC Coalition has had several great accomplishments over the last twelve months, spanning from the final days of the 110th Congress and the Bush Administration through the first nine months of the 111th Congress and the Obama Administration. During this time of transition the NMTC Coalition has continued to grow and remain fully engaged in the campaign to extend and expand the NMTC.

On the NMTC Policy Front:

• Coalition board members and staff met with CDFI Fund Director Donna Gambrell and NMTC Program Manager Matt Josephs several times during the year to discuss a range of issues on the Coalition’s legislative and program agenda. Several board members participated in a meeting convened by the CDFI Fund’s Advisory Board in December to discuss how changes in the financial market and the economy were impacting the NMTC industry;
• In December 2008, the NMTC Coalition released the 50 Projects/50 States Report profiling a diverse collection of NMTC financed projects from around the country;
• The Obama Administration called for a one year extension of the NMTC in its Fiscal 2010 budget and two architects of the NMTC initiative from the Clinton Administration were named to senior posts at Treasury – Michael Barr as Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions and Gene Sperling as Special Assistant to the Secretary;
• The Coalition staff was invited to brief the Treasury Department’s Deputy Chief of Staff and senior staff from the Office of Tax Policy and the CDFI Fund on the Coalition’s legislative proposal to allow NMTC investments to offset AMT;
• In June, the Coalition hosted its NMTC Policy Conference in Washington, D.C. and released its 2009 NMTC Progress Report which documents findings from a survey of Allocatees from Rounds I through V along with four NMTC project profiles from the field;
• Ron Phillips, President of the NMTC Coalition board, testified before a joint hearing of the House Financial Services Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee to discuss the Government Accountability Office (GAO) report that raised questions about the ability of minority CDEs to compete successfully for NMTC allocations. The Coalition’s testimony recommended several ways to build the capacity of minority CDEs and encourage greater minority CDE participation;
• The Coalition testified at the two IRS hearings on the NMTC, one in December 2008 focused on proposed amendments to the IRS guidance on NMTC and a second hearing in January 2009 focused specifically on IRS rules related to Targeted Populations.
• The Coalition submitted a request for guidance from the IRS regarding the tax treatment of the credit by individual investors, which was sent earlier this month.

Update on the Coalition:

• Membership in the NMTC Coalition now includes over 150 institutions;
• The Coalition published timely issues of the NMTC Bulletin to keep members informed on tax extender legislation, the economic stimulus legislation, IRS and CDFI announcements and other regulatory and programmatic issues affecting the Credit;
• The Coalition continued to draft and circulate fact sheets and briefing materials designed to keep the NMTC industry and policy makers informed and engaged in legislative debates that impact the NMTC;
• The Coalition hosted two conferences in Washington, DC over the last year. The Coalition’s 7th Annual Membership Conference in December, 2008 and the Annual Policy Conference in June, 2009;
• The Coalition continued to manage the Investor Advisory Committee (IAC) co-chaired by Gary Perlow and Mike Novogradac, as a venue for investors to discuss NMTC issues and encourage ongoing policy discussions between CDEs and investors.
• The Coalition board of directors organized two working groups over the last year – the first group is looking at ways to grow and diversify the NMTC investor base and the second is looking at ways to expand the participation of minority CDEs in the NMTC program.