Bipartisan lawmakers reintroduce bill to strengthen Housing Credit
This week, a group of Senators and Representatives re-introduced the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act (AHCIA), bipartisan legislation to strengthen the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program. Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Johnny Isakson (R-GA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), and Todd Young (R-IN), and Representatives Suzan DelBene (D-WA), Kenny Marchant (R-TX), Don Beyer (D-VA), and Jackie Walorski (R-IN) were original sponsors of the House and Senate bills. Several bipartisan lawmakers are expected to add their support to the bill as co-sponsors.
Both S. 1703 and H.R. 3077 include a 50 percent increase in Housing Credit authority; both bills would also establish a minimum 4 percent Housing Credit rate, which NAHMA strongly supports. In total, those two provisions alone in the AHCIA would provide for an estimated 450,500 additional affordable homes over the next ten years.
Key AHCIA Provisions
- Increase Housing Credit allocations by 50 percent, phased in over five years, to help meet the vast and growing need for affordable housing;
- Enact a minimum 4 percent rate to parallel the minimum 9 percent rate already enacted, providing predictability to the marketplace and substantially increasing production by making more developments financially feasible;
- Enable the Housing Credit to better serve hard-to-reach communities, including rural, Native American, high-poverty, and high-cost communities, as well as extremely low-income tenants; and
- Make the Housing Credit a more effective tool for preserving the nation’s existing affordable housing inventory by simplifying and aligning rules.
New AHCIA Provisions
- Make Housing Credit properties in rural areas eligible for additional credits if needed for financial feasibility;
- Clarify that the Housing Credit and Housing Bonds can be used to develop properties specifically for veterans and other special populations;
- Ensure cost reasonableness is considered when awarding Housing Credits; and
- Enable states to maximize Private Activity Bond affordable housing resources by recycling Multifamily Housing Bonds that are used in conjunction with Housing Credits.
Stay tuned for NAHMA’s in-depth analysis of the newly reintroduced companion legislation. NAHMA continues to strongly support efforts to strengthen and expand the Housing Credit program; thanks to our members who advocated on behalf of this critical legislation.
Congressional Appropriators advance FY2020 housing, rural development funding bill
In a Committee mark-up this week, House appropriators voted in favor of advancing the fiscal year 2020 funding bills for HUD and USDA. Both spending bills reject the President’s proposed budget, which called for steep cuts and eliminations to housing programs at HUD and USDA’s Rural Development.
The $137.1 billion fiscal 2020 Transportation-HUD (THUD) spending bill passed through Committee by a 29-21 vote, with strong increases to rental assistance programs. Similarly, the $24.3 billion agriculture spending bill passed through Committee on party lines, rejecting the Administration’s proposed budget cuts.
“The bill would reduce hunger at home and abroad, support rural development and our farmers, and ensure the FDA is properly funded to meet the growing needs of regulating our food, medicines, and more,” said House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Nita Lowey (D-NY).
Key Republican lawmakers voiced support for affordable housing programs, but voted against the bill’s overall numbers.
Top Appropriations Committee Republican Kay Granger (R-TX) said, “While many initiatives in this bill will improve and grow our communities…it was drafted at a funding level that does not have broad consensus needed to be signed into law. I want to work with my colleagues as the bill moves through the process to address these concerns.”
The bills will now be sent to the House floor for consideration by the full chamber; the Senate has yet to move spending bills as a broader Budget Cap negotiation continues.