House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, said he hopes his chamber will vote on a bill to encourage charitable giving in response to Hurricane Katrina before the end of the week.
According to reports, DeLay said the House Ways and Means Committee is putting together a narrow package that would encourage more charitable giving to the Katrina private relief effort by providing targeted tax relief to the contributors to the recovery.
Earlier this week, the Senate Finance Committee released a broad tax relief package that included charitable giving incentives as well as incentives designed to encourage the employment of individuals displaced by the hurricane and to encourage persons to house displaced individuals.
Although the House has yet to introduce a tax incentive bill to match the Senate's, Finance Committee Chair Chuck Grassley said he thought Congress would be able to get something done relatively quickly.
Both chambers of Congress plan to introduce legislative packages designed to provide longer-term economic relief to those areas affected by the storm and a House package is expected to emerge first.
