Collegiate Housing and Infrastructure Act

[Kevin]

This email I received from HQ seems pertinent to some of our recent threads. How much more effective could we be in raising funds if donations for housing were tax deductable? How much safer could our undergrad residents be?

Dear Brother:



In August of 2005, Sigma Nu Fraternity along with the other National Fraternities and Sororities asked our alumni for assistance in a national grassroots campaign of letter writing in support of the Collegiate Housing and Infrastructure Act (bill number H.R. 1548 in the House of Representatives and bill number S. 713 in the Senate). To date, the letter writing campaign has generated 5,915 letters sent to Congress. Those letters are making a huge difference as they have convinced 45 Congressmen and Senators to become new sponsors of the Collegiate Housing and Infrastructure Act since July 1, 2005.



As part of our ongoing joint effort to pass the Collegiate Housing and Infrastructure Act, we are continuing our grassroots letter writing campaign. The goal of this campaign is to have as many Congressional offices as possible receive a substantial number of letters asking them to co-sponsor the Act and for those letters to be received prior to April 15, 2006, so that your letters can be used while Sigma Nu and other Fraternities and Sororities are making visits to Congressmen in Washington, DC, on April 25, 2006.



By April 15 , we are asking you to please, once again, take a few minutes of your time to draft letters to Congress in support of these bills, fax or email those letters to Congress, and fax or email a copy of the letters to Sigma Nu Headquarters to help us track our efforts.



Special Web Page Support:

We have created a special web page to assist you in participating in this campaign. On this special web page, you will find several files for your reference and use. After reviewing this email, please access this web page at the following URL: www.sigmanu.org/act2005.



The Collegiate Housing and Infrastructure Act would redefine existing tax law to allow tax-deductible charitable contributions made to national or local 501(c)(3) organizations (such as the Sigma Nu Educational Foundation) to be used at the chapter level for a broad range of purposes, including making safety and infrastructure improvements to our chapter houses. Current tax law greatly restricts our ability to use tax-deductible charitable contributions. We believe that if the Collegiate Housing and Infrastructure Act becomes law, we will have a tool for raising funds to make our housing and overall membership experience safer and more attractive to future generations of student members. This legislation will fundamentally improve the ability of college fraternities to improve chapter housing.



H.R. 1548, already, has nearly 100 co-sponsors in the House (both Democrats and Republicans, Greeks and non-Greeks) and S. 713 has 16 co-sponsors in the Senate, but we need your support to help pass these bills. A complete copy of the bill, along with co-sponsors and other related information, can be found by going to http://thomas.loc.gov/ clicking on "Bill Status and Summary," and searching for the bill numbers – H.R. 1548 and S. 713.



This letter writing campaign has two components: one directed at the House's passage of its bill ( H.R. 1548) and another focused on passage of the Senate's identical bill (S. 713). Please note the letters you send for each will be different because of the different bill numbers and the recipients' titles and addresses.



As a result of this two-prong strategy, we are asking that everyone send letters to the following people:

1. The Congressman from your hometown district;

2. The two Senators who represent your home state;

3. The Congressman and two Senators who represent your alma mater (if different than # 1 & 2); and,

4. Any member of Congress in the House or Senate with whom you have a personal relationship.



Next Steps:

Using the sample letters provided on our Special Web Page Support www.sigmanu.org/act2005, please date, fill in the appropriate congressman's name, select the appropriate title, fill in your college or university name, sign and fax the letters to your Congressman from your hometown and the two Senators who represent your home state asking them co-sponsor the Collegiate Housing and Infrastructure Act of 2005. This all needs to be completed by April 15, 2006 .



In closing, thank you in advance for your support of this unique request. Passage of H.R. 1548 and S. 713 would make a real difference in the future of Greek Housing and our organizations. Your participation, through these letters to the appropriate Members of Congress, is essential to showing broad support for these bills. There is some urgency to this request, as we believe there may be opportunities for these bills to be considered sometime soon...[redacted]

If your respective HQs are not also sponsoring such a campaign, they should be. This act seems very attainable and the benefits derived from it could mean a renaissance in housing. I urge you all to not only participate in the letter writing on behalf of your own organization, but get your HQs involved as well.

[Kevin]

This is an important enough issue. I would expect nothing less.

I'm also not of the opinion that all topics should be limited to one thread.

[TSteven]

Bill that will give tax breaks to Housing

[Tom Earp]

There is never enough emphasis placed on this situation.

As was Stated in a previous Thread, when Vets come back after a War, WWII, I think was used, there was a need for Houseing for the Veterns and was given by the Social Greeks. Recruitment (Rush in those days) was much easier and open. Chapters flourished and grew.

Actually today while a little different, Schools are not building Housing for Students, nor are they allowing Greeks to Recruit earlier.

They allow the Local Builders to construct Apts. or Codos. that are less than standard, but get a very nice price for them.

At My Alma Mater, one of the biggest Student Houseing Slum Lords was a Proffesor of the Un.

My School has torn down Dorms, used the space for other things. So who does that help for the Kids who can afford to come to College and pay big Tutitions?

[OleMissGlitter]

I wrote a letter to Senator Trent Lott (Sigma Nu--Epsilon Xi Chapter) and he did get it because I got a letter back from him thanking me. Hopefully this can get passed. That would be great.

[Kevin]

Originally posted by OleMissGlitter
I wrote a letter to Senator Trent Lott (Sigma Nu--Epsilon Xi Chapter) and he did get it because I got a letter back from him thanking me. Hopefully this can get passed. That would be great.

From what I understand, Trent is an active alumnus with that chapter. I could see him being a major sponsor of a bill like this.

[Tom Earp]

In talking with National AGD President and one of LXA Board of Directors, Connie Yates-Brown is in the Fore Front of this and has been working with LXA and many others on this Bill!

It would behoove all of us to try and do something.

ktsnake, Your link did not work but Connie did say they have a link on AGD Site.

It coulod be a windfall if Alums are able to donate money and use it as a tax break.

This is probably one of the most important times for Greeks and should be followed up on!