House Committee Approves Brown’s Jointly Sponsored Bill to Promote Financial Responsibility, Assist First-Time Homebuyers
HARRISBURG – Rep. Rosemary M. Brown (R-Monroe/Pike) announced today that the House Urban Affairs Committee voted in favor of
House Bill 1981, a bipartisan effort, jointly sponsored with Rep. Ryan Bizzarro (D-Erie), to allow first-time homebuyers a tax deduction for money saved toward the purchase of a home.
“Being able to buy a home for the first time is a major part of the American dream for many people across our state and nation, and financial literacy plays a huge part in this,” Brown said. “Unfortunately, since the difficult financial and economic realities started in 2009, the number of first-time homeowners has severely dropped.”
House Bill 1981 would create the First-Time Home Buyer Savings Account Act to establish first-time home buyer savings accounts (FHSA). The goal of the legislation is to allow Pennsylvanians to set aside savings, which may be used as a deduction on state income tax, toward the eligible costs of purchasing a first home.
“This bill provides greater opportunity for our current and future generations to own their first home and build their families, and works to increase financial literacy and responsibility to help ensure when families do buy a home, they can continue to afford it,” Brown explained. “I have been an advocate for implementing financial literacy education into our children’s education, and worked on legislation to allow prize-linked raffles in our financial institutions to incentivize savings and foster smart, educated personal financial decisions. This bill continues those efforts.
“Ideally, purchasing a home and establishing that safe and secure haven for families strengthens communities and provides stability,” Brown continued. “Realistically, buying a home for the first time is much easier said than done, as there are many financial obstacles for one to overcome. Other states allow and reward first-time home buyers to deposit money into a savings account, and that’s what the bill Rep. Bizzarro and I are sponsoring would do here in Pennsylvania.”
View video of Brown’s comments from Wednesday’s House Urban Affairs Committee hearing by visiting
YouTube.com/RepBrown.
For more information about House Bill 1981, or any state-related issue, contact Brown’s district office in East Stroudsburg located at
143 Seven Bridge Road, by calling 570-420-8301. Information can also be found on online at
RepBrown.com or
Facebook.com/RepRosemaryBrown.
Representative Rosemary M. Brown
189th District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Krisinda Corbin
717.705.2032
KCorbin@pahousegop.com
RepBrown.com /
Facebook.com/RepRosemaryBrown