WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Bobby Bright voted for legislation to extend the homebuyers’ tax credit and unemployment benefits for Alabama families.  The bill also contains additional tax relief for businesses experiencing net operating losses in 2008 or 2009.  Bright previously sponsored a bill that would have extended and expanded the homebuyers’ tax credit, and voted for the Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2009 when it first came for a vote in September.  H.R. 3458, which has passed the Senate and will now go to the President’s desk, also makes military families’ mortgage payments tax exempt.  The bill passed by a bi-partisan 403 – 12 margin.

“The first-time homebuyer’s tax credit has been a successful economic stimulus and has helped stabilize a volatile housing market,” Bright said.  “Realtors and homebuyers in my district have expressed strong support for the credit and I am grateful that Congress has acted to extend it.  While I would have preferred that the housing tax credit provisions go even further as they do in my bill, I am pleased we are extending the credit before it expires in a few short weeks.  This extension will not only help more people purchase a home and stabilize the market, it will also put more money in the hands of American citizens and give the economy a needed boost.” 

The bill includes an extension of the $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit through April 30, 2010 and provides a $6,500 credit to new purchasers who have lived in their current residence for five years or more.  Additionally, the legislation will provide families in all states with 14 weeks of additional benefits, and six more weeks to the 27 states with the highest unemployment rates, which includes Alabama. Workers in these high unemployment states who have exhausted or will soon exhaust their benefits will be eligible for a total of 20 additional weeks of emergency unemployment compensation.  

“Economists from across the political spectrum have continually cited unemployment benefits as one of the most effective ways to jumpstart the economy,” Bright said.  “Alabama has been hit hard with unemployment, and this extension will give hard-working citizens the benefits they have earned while they continue to look for work.”

The bill passed today will also allow businesses suffering losses in 2008 and 2009 to carry back those losses against income earned in any of the previous five years.  The reduced tax burden will allow them to keep or add jobs even as the economy continues to struggle.  The first bill Congressman Bright sponsored allowed businesses to write off additional capital expensing, which was also designed to allow businesses to expand and grow.

“Small businesses create 70-80% of the jobs in the country and will be the engines that get the economy back on track,” Bright said.  “The tax relief passed today will help businesses grow and expand even if they’ve experienced hardships in the last year and in turn, create jobs for Americans.”