Gov. Jim Edgar announced last week that he would seek legislative approval to increase the Illinois Housing Development Authority's bond cap.
Speaking at a statewide conference on housing, the governor said the increase was needed so the authority could continue to assist low- and moderate-income families.
According to Thomas Laue, the authority's manager of external affairs, the authority has used about $2.5 billion of its $2.7 billion tax-exempt bond cap. He added that although the increase in bonding ability was needed, the authority was still waiting to see if Congress would extend the use of tax-exempt mortgage revenue bonds.
Dan Egler, a spokesman for the governor, said a bill to increase the cap probably would be introduced in the spring session of the General Assembly, adding that the amount of the increase has not yet been determined.