PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in House · Sep 18, 2008
Hurricane Ike Tax Relief Act of 2008 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide tax benefits to individuals affected by Hurricane Ike.
Makes specified provisions of the Internal Revenue Code, which currently apply only to residents of the Gulf Opportunity Zone and the Hurricane Katrina disaster area, applicable to the Hurricane Ike recovery area, including: (1) tax-exempt bond financing, the low-income housing tax credit, accelerated depreciation and increased expensing of business assets, an increase in the rehabilitation tax credit, extended carryback of net operating losses, and investment in tax credit bonds; (2) expensing of environmental remediation costs and demolition and cleanup costs; (3) tax incentives for employer-provided housing; (4) tax-free withdrawals from retirement accounts and recontributions for home purchases; (5) employer tax credits for retention of employees; and (6) suspension of limitations on tax deductions for charitable contributions and personal casualty losses.
Extends through 2009 the additional tax exemption for housing displaced individuals in the Hurricane Ike recovery area.
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
Extends through 2009 the enhanced tax deduction for charitable contributions of food inventories and of book inventories to public schools.
Requires charitable organizations to provide the Secretary of the Treasury with specified information, on an annual basis, relating to their disaster relief activities.
Makes the standard mileage rate used to determine the tax deduction for the use of a passenger automobile for charitable purposes equal to the standard mileage rate used for the tax deduction for medical and moving expenses.
People & committees
Rep. Brady, Kevin [R-TX-8] · R–TX
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.
No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Aug 14, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Analyze H.R.6958 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
Examine H.R.6958 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
Examine H.R.6958 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
Examine H.R.6958 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.