Urge Congress to Pass Omnibus and Fund Affordable Housing Programs for FY 2016
NAHMA is requesting your participation in a crucial effort to pass a funding bill for the rest of fiscal year 2016. Congress will soon have a final vote on a final omnibus appropriations bill package, which contains funding for all federal programs including affordable housing programs. We are asking for your assistance in urging lawmakers to pass this bill and provide housing programs with full funding for the remainder of FY 2016.
Suggested Talking Points for your Grassroots Advocacy:
Fully Fund All HUD Affordable Housing Programs –
- Fund 12-month Project-Based Rental Assistance renewals at $10.622 billion*
- Fund the renewal of Housing Choice Vouchers at $17.681 billion*
* Please note these figures are below NAHMA’s previous requests, but Congress has stated that all contracts will be renewed with these amounts.
Provide Additional Funding and Important Language Changes for Section 521, Rural Rental Assistance (RA)
- In your outreach to Congress, it is critical that you press support for $1.389 billion in funding to renew all rental assistance contracts for FY2016.
- NAHMA also asks that you urge Congress support language that provides RD authority to fully back-fund properties that were denied funding in FY 2015 because of lack of contract renewal funds and removes the “no re-renewal” provision for the program in FY 2016.
Support LIHTC Extension
Coinciding with the release of the omnibus, the Tax Increase Prevention and Real Estate Investment Act of 2015 was also introduced on the House floor. This bill is a two-year tax extenders package which continues a number of tax relief provisions that expired at the end of calendar year 2014. Lawmakers have been consistently passing tax extenders legislation in lieu of tax reform in order to prevent tax increases on families and businesses.
NAHMA’s main concern continues to be the minimum credit rates applied to the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC). The Tax Increase Prevention and Real Estate Investment Act of 2015 makes permanent the 9-percent minimum credit rate, which is a major victory for the LIHTC. However, the bill does not contain an establishment of the 4-percent minimum credit rate for property rehabilitation.
We ask that you urge Congress to also include and make permanent the 4 percent minimum credit rate so that LIHTC acquisition and rehabilitation projects are not subjected to the unpredictable floating rate system.