DOT and HUD Launch Thriving Communities Program
The Department of Transportation (DOT) is establishing a Thriving Communities Program to provide technical assistance and capacity building resources to improve and foster thriving communities through transportation improvements. This includes the new Thriving Communities Program to support communities with planning and project development of transformative infrastructure projects that increase affordable transportation options, enhance economic opportunity, reduce environmental burdens, improve access and quality of life, and provide other benefits to disadvantaged communities. DOT is partnering with the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), which will provide complementary technical assistance as part of the Thriving Communities Program to improve the coordination of housing and transportation planning to advance residents’ access to opportunity and increase housing supply. The Thriving Communities Program recognizes the power of local communities to drive innovation if they have the tools to succeed. This program provides hands-on planning support and access to a diverse set of technical assistance providers available to work directly with communities as they build upon local assets to co-design and advance infrastructure projects that address critical social, economic, environmental and mobility needs. As a result of the Thriving Communities Program, a pipeline of diverse and transformative community-driven infrastructure projects will be advanced across the country to drive inclusive economic growth, build resiliency, and ensure that every place has a chance to thrive. Congress provided $25 million to launch DOT’s Thriving Communities Program in FY2022, and an additional $5 million for HUD to offer complementary technical assistance as part of the program to improve the coordination of housing and transportation planning to advance residents’ access to opportunity, spur economic development, and increase housing supply. The President’s FY2023 budget requests $110 million to grow the program. DOT and HUD plan to separately issue their notices of funding availability in the fall, and stakeholder outreach to help shape the program will happen during July and August 2022.
For more information on the Thriving Communities Program, click here.
House Hearing on Rising Housing Costs Highlights Importance of LIHTC
This week, the House Ways & Means Committee held a hearing, titled Nowhere to Live: Profits, Disinvestments and the American Housing Crisis, which focused on the challenges of increasing housing costs. Witnesses included Dr. Elora Lee Raymond, Urban Planner and Assistant Professor in the School of City and Regional Planning in the College of Design at Georgia Tech; Dr. Akilah Watkins, President and Chief Executive Officer for the Center for Community Progress; Dr. Christopher Herbert, Managing Director, Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University; Audra Hamernik, President and CEO of Nevada HAND in Las Vegas, NV; and Edward J. Pinto, Senior Fellow and Director of the American Enterprise Institute Housing Center.
During the hearing members and witnesses discussed the impact of housing assistance in the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and the proposed Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) expansion in the House-passed Build Back Better Act (BBBA).
In his opening statement, Chairman Richard Neal (D-MA) acknowledged housing costs are escalating through home prices and rental costs, and that homeownership is slipping out of grasp for many. He noted competition for housing continues to build up in the rental market and “to make matters worse, private equity has muscled its way into the housing market.” Discussing efforts to increase the supply of housing and thus reduce housing costs, the Chairman highlighted LIHTC as the single largest federal investment in the supply of affordable housing and stated his support for a proposed expansion of the program to increase the availability of housing credits and enable the program to do more for those most vulnerable. He also noted that the House-passed BBBA included $11 billion in LIHTC provisions, including an increase in state allocations. Several members of the committee also championed the importance of LIHTC in their communities. Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-CA) expressed concerns that average Americans can’t compete in the housing market and advocated expanding and improving the LIHTC and leveraging investment to expand to areas where it is needed most. Rep. Suzan Delbene (D-WA) also called for increasing the supply of affordable housing and cited her Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act, which would revise LIHTC and provide for increased state allocations, a credit increase for certain projects designated to serve extremely low-income households, and an increase for certain bond-financed projects designated by state agencies.
Chairman Neal also noted the Neighborhood Home Investment Act, which would establish a new business-related tax credit to finance home building and rehabilitation in neighborhoods that meet certain eligibility criteria relating to poverty rates, income, and home values, would help people afford homes in low- and middle-income communities and revitalize communities suffering from disinvestment. Several members of the committee attributed the current inflation crisis to the $2 trillion in ARPA spending and raised their concerns with the latest report that consumer prices were up 9% in June over a year ago. The Ranking Member of the Committee, Kevin Brady (R-TX) noted the 9% year-over-year inflation increase and said, “Rather than change course, Democrats in Congress continue to push for tax hikes that hit families, small businesses, homebuilders, developers, and skilled trades businesses the hardest. Contrast today with results in the two years after Republican tax cuts: Then, low inflation, strong real wage growth, and high housing affordability.” However, Dr. Herbert disagreed and testified that the emergency assistance provided to renters and homebuyers, rather than causing inflation, was critically important in maintaining stability in the housing market by providing funds to pay back rents and make sure families were able to stay in their homes. Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-NJ) stated private equity investors are targeting lower- and middle-income homes and are outbidding families and driving up prices and asked witnesses how corporate landlords lead to price increases and asked what Congress could take to target monopolistic investment in the housing market. Dr. Raymond responded that institutional investors are a big part of the surge in housing demand, and they have moved from distressed properties to outbidding average homeowners. She suggested the establishment of rental housing registries, enforcement of municipal-level rental property databases, and probing for anticompetitive practices and undue market power in the home purchase and rental markets.
To view witness testimony and the full committee hearing, click here.
House America Initiative Gains Steam
Last week, HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge announced the 100th community to join the House America initiative, which was created to reduce homelessness by leveraging American Rescue Plan and other federal resources through a Housing First approach. Spread across 31 states and territories and the District of Columbia, these communities represent 50 percent of people experiencing homelessness in the U.S., per HUD’s 2020 Point-in-Time Count. Launched in September 2021 by Secretary Fudge, in partnership with the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH), House America: An All-Hands-on-Deck Effort to Address the Nation’s Homelessness Crisis is a federal initiative in which HUD and USICH are inviting mayors, city and county leaders, tribal nation leaders, and governors into a national partnership. House America utilizes the historic investments provided through the American Rescue Plan to address the crisis of homelessness through a Housing First approach. The initiative aims to re-house at least 100,000 households experiencing homelessness through a Housing First approach, and to add at least 20,000 new units of affordable housing into the development pipeline by December 31, 2022. These communities have shared with HUD their goals to collectively rehouse more than 57,000 households from homelessness and add more than 44,000 units of deeply affordable housing to development pipelines. As HUD continues to work with communities that have recently joined House America to set their goals, the Secretary said the initiative is on track to meet the national goals before the end of year deadline.
To view the House America Initiative fact sheet, click here.