Treasury Releases 2024 Housing Agenda
In early March, the U.S. Treasury Dept. (Treasury) unveiled its inaugural Housing Agenda, outlining its current and future initiatives aimed at bolstering the availability of affordable housing. The agenda encompasses a range of key points, including the Treasury’s support for LIHTC, current initiatives to enable state and local governments to leverage federal resources for expanding affordable housing supply, and ongoing research into rising insurance costs and decreasing coverage, along with the ramifications of inadequate affordable insurance on housing availability across the nation.
To learn more about the 2024 agenda, please visit Treasury’s blog post.
Congress Returns Next Week, Senate Passage of Tax Package Uncertain”
Next week, lawmakers return frow a two-week recess. The Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act (H.R. 7024) has encountered challenges in the Senate and progress has stalled. This bill, which includes two LIHTC provisions: increases the low-income housing tax credit ceiling to 12.5% for calendar years 2023-2025 and lowers the bond-financing threshold to 30% for projects financed by bonds issued before 2026. Advocacy efforts to pass the bill have been hindered by unsuccessful negotiations between Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-ID). There is no set deadline for Senate to pass the tax bill, but the industry is hoping for a breakthrough soon. We fear politics only increases as time passes and we near the Nov. elections.