Thanks for that information. Do you know if that has been passed to Greek national organizations around the Country? It also needs to get to every Greek organization on campuses around the Country and to their parents. I will make sure this gets in the next Parent Club Newsletter for XI Chapter of AOII that I send out.
I know when AOII moved into the former ATO fraternity house, there were new codes for them and it cost quite a bit for them to be up to code with a sprinkler system, etc.
My son who is now a GA at PI was a member of IFC here at OU as President his fraternity. I am going to pass this information on to him and to my daughter's sorority Corporation Board so maybe we can get Congressman Cole on board with this bill and the rest of our Oklahoma delegation.
I knew there were items that our Parent Club buys that are tax deductible for us but if the people donated to the Corporation Board they are not tax deductible. This would make a huge difference IMO in donations for bringing older houses up to code.
Thanks again for this information -- this needs spread far and wide. If you have any further information, please freep mail me and I will give you my email.
The text of the Collegiate Housing and Infrastructure Act of 2003 was attached to the Charitable Giving Act of 2003 (H.R. 7), which passed the House on September 17, 2003. The Senate version of charitable giving legislation is called CARE (S.476) and passed the Senate in April of 2003, before the Collegiate Housing and Infrastructure Act was introduced in that chamber. Thus, CARE does not include language on collegiate housing improvements like its House counterpart does. The House and Senate next must schedule a conference of key leaders to resolve the differences between their respective versions of charitable giving legislation. This conference has been delayed since September due to political concerns that have little to do with the merits of the charitable giving bill. There is currently a major lobbying effort underway by the charitable giving community to pressure Congressional leaders, especially Senate Democrats, to allow the conference on this legislation to proceed. If Congress fails to pass charitable giving legislation this year, a new Congress will begin work in January, and we will have to begin the legislative process all over again.
Other pending legislation: Fire Safety (H.R. 1613 and S. 620)
The Student Housing Fire Safety Act of 2003 (H.R. 1613) would provide $250 million a year for colleges, universities, fraternities and sororities to make housing infrastructure improvements to their facilities. The bill guarantees 10% of the authorized funding (up to $25 million a year) for the exclusive use of fraternities and sororities. The College Fire Prevention Act (S.620) is the old version of the fire safety bill and was reintroduced in the Senate by Senator John Edwards (D-NC). This version of the legislation provides $80 million a year for colleges, universities, fraternities and sororities to make housing infrastructure improvements to their facilities. There is no set aside of funds for specific use by fraternities and sororities.
Current Status: The House bill’s primary sponsor in the House is Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-OH/Delta Sigma Theta). The House bill had 67 sponsors, primarily Democrats, and many of these sponsors joined due to our efforts last year. There are currently three other co-sponsors of the Senate bill: Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), Senator Carl Levin (D-MI), and Senator Pat Roberts (R-KS/Pi Kappa Alpha).