PRINTER'S NO. 1767
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE BILL
No.
1281
Session of
2022
INTRODUCED BY ARGALL, FONTANA, SCAVELLO, YUDICHAK, BREWSTER,
COSTA AND CAPPELLETTI, JUNE 15, 2022
REFERRED TO URBAN AFFAIRS AND HOUSING, JUNE 15, 2022
AN ACT
Amending the act of April 9, 1929 (P.L.343, No.176), entitled
"An act relating to the finances of the State government;
providing for cancer control, prevention and research, for
ambulatory surgical center data collection, for the Joint
Underwriting Association, for entertainment business
financial management firms, for private dam financial
assurance and for reinstatement of item vetoes; providing for
the settlement, assessment, collection, and lien of taxes,
bonus, and all other accounts due the Commonwealth, the
collection and recovery of fees and other money or property
due or belonging to the Commonwealth, or any agency thereof,
including escheated property and the proceeds of its sale,
the custody and disbursement or other disposition of funds
and securities belonging to or in the possession of the
Commonwealth, and the settlement of claims against the
Commonwealth, the resettlement of accounts and appeals to the
courts, refunds of moneys erroneously paid to the
Commonwealth, auditing the accounts of the Commonwealth and
all agencies thereof, of all public officers collecting
moneys payable to the Commonwealth, or any agency thereof,
and all receipts of appropriations from the Commonwealth,
authorizing the Commonwealth to issue tax anticipation notes
to defray current expenses, implementing the provisions of
section 7(a) of Article VIII of the Constitution of
Pennsylvania authorizing and restricting the incurring of
certain debt and imposing penalties; affecting every
department, board, commission, and officer of the State
government, every political subdivision of the State, and
certain officers of such subdivisions, every person,
association, and corporation required to pay, assess, or
collect taxes, or to make returns or reports under the laws
imposing taxes for State purposes, or to pay license fees or
other moneys to the Commonwealth, or any agency thereof,
every State depository and every debtor or creditor of the
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Commonwealth," in emergency COVID-19 response, providing for
Development Cost Relief Program.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. The act of April 9, 1929 (P.L.343, No.176), known
as The Fiscal Code, is amended by adding a section to read:
Section 195-C. Development Cost Relief Program.
(a) Establishment.--The Development Cost Relief Program is
established in the agency to support the production of
developments by addressing financial deficiencies attributable
to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and other economic
factors.
(b) Eligibility.--A development which meets all of the
following criteria shall be eligible for an award under this
section:
(1) Has applied for, or has received a conditional or
full allocation from the agency of, low-income housing tax
credits under section 42 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986
(Public Law 99-514, 26 U.S.C. ยง 42) during the 2019, 2020,
2021 or 2022 application cycles.
(2) Has not, as of the effective date of this section,
received a certificate of occupancy for each unit within the
development.
(3) Has experienced cost increases, or a loss in equity
investment, as the result of conditions arising from or
related to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, which in the
judgment of the agency necessitates the provision of
additional funding to complete the development.
(c) Application.--The agency shall make available to an
eligible development an application that requires information,
as determined necessary by the agency, to verify the need of the
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development and to determine the extent to which funding should
be awarded, while ensuring that the development remains in
compliance with the low-income housing tax credit program.
(d) Determination.--A determination shall be made in
accordance with the following:
(1) Upon a determination of eligibility for money
allocated under this section, the agency shall provide the
development with a letter of commitment indicating the
conditional award amount.
(2) The agency shall use the same closing process and
terms for an award of money from the fund as is used for an
award from the Pennsylvania housing affordability and
rehabilitation enhancement program for a low-income housing
tax credit recipient development.
(e) Limitation.--Money provided for the program under this
section may not be used to supplant other agency-committed
resources except if the development risks noncompliance with the
low-income housing tax credit program. Projects which have
received or have been approved by the agency for construction
cost relief funding under section 194-C may receive additional
funding under the Development Cost Relief Program.
(f) Definitions.--As used in this section, the following
words and phrases shall have the meanings given to them in this
subsection unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
"Agency." The Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency.
"Development." An affordable multifamily rental development.
Section 2. The provisions of this act may not affect the
award or use of any funds provided to any development under
section 194-C of the act. Any amounts which have not been
awarded by the agency under section 194-C of the act shall be
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available for award under section 195-C of the act in addition
to any amounts made available under section 3 of this act with
respect to the act of , 2022 (P.L. , No. ), known as
the General Appropriation Act of 2022.
Section 3. From the money received by the Commonwealth from
the Federal Government under the American Rescue Plan Act of
2021 (Public Law 117-2, 135 Stat. 4), the sum of $100,000,000 is
appropriated to the agency for the purposes of making awards
under the Development Cost Relief Program.
Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2022, or
immediately, whichever is later.
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