House approves tax reform bill as Senate debate continues; urgent action needed to protect affordable housing
The House of Representatives on Thursday voted to approve
H.R. 1, the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act,” which would overhaul the U.S. tax code and eliminate crucial tax benefits for affordable housing. Thirteen Republicans joined all present House Democrats to vote against the bill in the 227-205 vote. In the Senate, a separate version of the bill was
approved at the Committee level late on Thursday, with further debate and a floor vote expected when Congress returns after Thanksgiving.
House bill spells disaster for affordable housing production; Senate bill makes limited improvements
The House bill makes sweeping changes to both individual and corporate tax rates, including collapsing the current seven income tax brackets to four and lowering the corporate tax rate from 35% to 20% starting next year. Although the House bill preserves the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program, it eliminates the tax-exempt status for Private Activity Bonds (PABs), including multifamily Housing Bonds which trigger the 4% credit rate, jeopardizing affordable housing production by up to two-thirds annually. The House bill also repeals the new markets tax credit (NMTC) and the historic tax credit (HTC).
The Senate Finance Committee also advanced its version of the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act” late Thursday on a party-line vote of 14-12. In part because of Senate procedural rules that limit the fiscal impact of the bill over ten years, the Senate version differs significantly from the House bill: The Senate aims to maintain but restructure the seven income tax brackets, and delay a corporate tax rate reduction until 2019, among other differences. Notably, the Senate bill retains both the Housing Credit and private activity bonds, but fails to offset the impact of a lowered corporate tax rate on the Housing Credit program.
Additionally, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch this week added a number of no-cost provisions from the bipartisan “Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act” (
S. 548), which NAHMA supports. However, key provisions to strengthen the Housing Credit, including income-averaging and credit expansion provisions, were not included among the modifications.
Urgent Action Needed – Call or Email your Senators today
NAHMA sent
this letter to the Senate Finance Committee this week, and sent this
grassroots alert to members across the country. Please continue to reach out to your Senators regarding the impact of tax reform on affordable housing production and preservation.
TELL CONGRESS: Affordable Housing production is critical for communities and industry
NAHMA will continue to keep members up-to-date as the Congress returns after the Thanksgiving Recess.
Lawmakers discuss 2-year budget deal as government shutdown looms
With the current Continuing Resolution (CR) set to expire on December 8
th, lawmakers have fewer than 10 working days to reach a spending deal or enact another short-term measure to avoid a government shutdown. As negotiations continue, key demands for Republicans and Democrats – including border wall funding and immigration fixes – present potential roadblocks as leaders discuss a two-year spending pact to last through next year’s mid-term elections.
While no final agreement has been reached, congressional leaders and the White House are reportedly in talks about a two-year deal that would increase both defense and non-defense discretionary spending; legislators have also discussed a very short-term CR to buy more time for negotiations over the holidays. Meanwhile, the White House today submitted its request for $44 billion in supplemental disaster recovery funding, short of the funds requested by both Puerto Rico and Texas.
NAHMA continues to advocate for lifting the spending caps for fiscal year 2018, and will continue to keep members up-to-date as negotiations continue.
Bipartisan Family Self-Sufficiency Act makes headway in House
A House Committee this week voted unanimously to advance the bipartisan “
Family Self-Sufficiency Act,” which was introduced just last week by Representatives Sean Duffy (R-WI) and Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO). Like its Senate counterpart, H.R. 4258 would streamline HUD’s primary asset-building program, called the Family Self Sufficiency (FSS) program, and expand access to project-based tenants. However, the House bill omits the Senate bill’s authorization for $100 million per fiscal year from 2018-2022.
A recording of the mark-up is available to view
here.
House approves flood insurance reform and reauthorization amidst partisan pushback
The House voted 237-189 this week to pass the “
21st Century Flood Reform Act,” a package of seven bills that reform and reauthorize the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). Reauthorizing the program, which was extended temporarily under the current Continuing Resolution and was set to expire on December 8, 2017, took on heightened urgency following a series of devastating hurricanes this summer.
The House bill reauthorizes the NFIP for five years and speeds up efforts to establish monthly payments for insurance premiums under a lowered fee structure; the bill also reduces risk- and insurance-related regulations on commercial properties and focuses on reducing the program’s annual deficit. A final Senate version of NFIP reform has yet to be released.
