The Florida House of Representatives held a hearing on March 10 to consider a bill that would alter the state's New Markets Development Program. House Bill 1229 unanimously passed the Economic Development Policy Committee and at press time was undergoing consideration by the Transportation and Economic Development Appropriations Committee. The bill would revise the definition of a qualified active low-income business to match the federal NMTC program's definition of the same term, along with other changes to make the state program more parallel to the federal. The change would not affect the program's current allocations.

On February 22, the Obama Administration released details of a Healthy Food Financing Initiative to expand access to nutritious foods in underserved urban and rural communities not currently served by grocery stores and other healthy food retailers. The initiative will make available more than $400 million in federal tax credits, below-market rate loans, loan guarantees and grants to attract private sector capital that are expected to more than double the total investment, including $250 million in authority for the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) program devoted to helping finance healthy food options. Communities without access to grocery stores or other healthy food retailers are sometimes called "food deserts," and the Administration says its proposal builds on the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund's history of supporting investments that bring healthy food options to food deserts through the NMTC program. To read about how the NMTC has helped bring grocery stores to these underserved communities, please visit www.novoco.com/journal/2010/01. To hear more about the Healthy Food Financing Initiative, visit www.novoco.com/podcast and download the Tax Credit Tuesday podcast from March 2.

On February 18 the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund invited comments on its Quarterly New Markets Report (QNMR) for new markets tax credit (NMTC) allocatees that were awarded tax credits under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act). No changes are being proposed at this time. Comments will be accepted through April 20, 2010. A copy of the February 18 Federal Register notice can be found online at www.newmarketscredits.com.

Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation (BSRC) in February closed an NMTC transaction to renovate Restoration Plaza in Central Brooklyn, N.Y. National Community Fund I LLC, an affiliate of United Fund Advisors (UFA), and Citi Community Capital partnered to provide tax equity financing for the development, which is in a low-income community. UFA structured the transaction and provided $15 million in NMTC allocation, while Citi contributed the NMTC equity investment. New York City Economic Development Corporation supplied an additional $7.3 million. BSRC will rehabilitate or develop 43,000 square feet of Restoration Plaza's retail and office space in an effort to revitalize the surrounding community. Billie Holliday Theatre, Skylight Gallery and Youth Arts Academy are a few of the destinations located in the plaza, along with a grocery store, pharmacy, restaurant and several banks.

The CDFI Fund is requesting comments on its authorizing statute, the Riegle Community Development and Regulatory Improvement Act. The comments will assist the CDFI Fund in determining if technical corrections, substantive changes or new provisions should be made to the authorizing statute. Among other topics, questions in the request cover the CDFI Fund's Financial and Technical Assistance awards, the Native American CDFI Assistance awards, the Bank Enterprise Awards and CDFI certification. In addition to the request for comments, the CDFI Fund will conduct a series of national listening sessions in distressed communities. Written comments must be received on or before May 2 to receive consideration. See the notice in the Federal Register, available at www.cdfifund.gov, for more details about submitting comments.