The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of the following:
(a) Section 42 of the Internal Revenue Code has been modified by the federal Revenue Reconciliation Act of 1989 to require that the housing credit agency establish a qualified allocation plan which sets forth selection criteria to be used to determine housing priorities that are appropriate to local conditions, and which gives preference in allocating housing credit dollar amounts to projects serving the lowest income tenants and projects obligated to serve low-income tenants for the longest periods.
(b) The qualified allocation plan shall encompass and incorporate the criteria and requirements set forth in Section 50199.14.
(c) Certain provisions of the California Tax Credit should be modified to conform to the changes to the federal low-income housing tax credit.
(d) The Tax Credit Allocation Committee should, to the extent possible, allocate the California low-income housing tax credit using the same criteria and requirements used in allocating the federal tax credit.
(e) The public interest is best served by the dissemination of information regarding the low-income housing tax credit program to all areas of the state, with special efforts in rural areas, to ensure greater knowledge and participation in the program.