Congress moves forward with FY 2018 appropriations bills
Thank you NAHMA members who conducted Congressional visits to advocate for federal support for affordable housing. The feedback to NAHMA staff from the visits has been very positive. However, our advocacy work remains. This week, partisan disagreements over policy riders have emerged as a serious threat to funding the government. These disagreements have stalled negotiations over the fiscal 2018 spending bills and may jeopardize lawmakers’ ability to pass the omnibus spending package by March 23, when the current Continuing Resolution (CR) expires. If Congress passes an FY 2018 omnibus package in late March, they are expected to quickly move on to writing FY 2019 spending bills.
NAHMA is monitoring the progress of the spending bills and will continue to advocate for their passage. You can find additional information on our recent
Grassroots Alert.
Senate Democrats propose $1 trillion Infrastructure Plan
This week, Senate Democrats released a $1 trillion infrastructure proposal, the
Jobs & Infrastructure Plan for America’s Workers, which calls for $62 billion for affordable housing, neighborhood revitalization, and lead remediation. Without providing specific details, the plan highlights the following funding proposal (pg.15):
Funding Proposal: We will provide additional federal support to locally driven initiatives to preserve and expand affordable housing in cities, suburbs, rural communities and on tribal lands through a combination of direct investment and tax incentives. Specifically, we will:
- Preserve the Nation’s public housing stock by increasing capital investments to public housing agencies across the country in order to make necessary capital repairs, conduct significant rehabilitation, and, in some cases, replace units with newly-constructed affordable housing;
- Provide grants to States and local communities through the HOME Investment Partnerships Program and Housing Trust Fund to address their affordable housing production and repair priorities, such as: affordable housing for seniors, people with disabilities, and families; supportive housing for the homeless; and repairs that help seniors and persons with disabilities stay in their homes.
- Strengthen the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC), which provides tax incentives for private investment in the creation and preservation of affordable housing. The recently-enacted Republican tax cuts reduced the number of affordable homes that will be produced with LIHTC by an estimated 235,000 units over the next 10 years.
- Boost funding for initiatives like Choice Neighborhoods and Community Development Block Grants to spur investments and job creation in communities struggling to maintain legacy infrastructure, address vacant and abandoned properties, and create viable economic opportunities. These critical programs enable communities to build on public private partnerships that result in community-driven infrastructure, revitalization, mitigation from natural disaster, and housing construction projects.
- Preserve and expand affordable housing in rural and tribal communities through targeted investments. Improve affordable housing in rural communities with investments in USDA’s Rural Housing Service rental housing and homeowner assistance programs. In addition, address the unique housing challenges on tribal lands by providing new investments in the Indian Housing Block Grant (IHBG) created through the Native American Housing Assistance and Self Determination Act (NAHASDA).
- Make cost-effective investments to protect the health and future of our children by addressing lead-based paint hazards in America’s housing stock. Exposure to lead can undermine children’s neurological and physical development, and the CDC now estimates that 535,000 American children under the age of 6 are affected by lead poisoning. Every $1 invested in lead hazard control saves $17 in health, educational, criminal justice, and other societal costs.
The plan stands little chance of passing without the Republican Majority support, but it serves as a marker for future infrastructure negotiations. NAHMA will monitor the proposal and keep members updated on its progress.
