FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
The Affordable Housing Tax Credit Coalition (AHTCC) applauds Senator Cantwell (D-WA) and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Hatch (R-UT) for their leadership in addressing America’s growing housing affordability challenges by introducing the bipartisan Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act (S. 548).
AHTCC also thanks for their bipartisan leadership and support as original co-sponsors Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), ranking member of the Finance Committee; Senator Schumer (D-NY), the Democratic Leader; and Senators Bennet (D-CO), Collins (R-ME), Booker (D-NJ), Heller (R-NV), Leahy (D-VT), Merkley (D-OR), Murkowski (R-AK), Schatz (D-HI), and Young (R-IN).
Introduced yesterday, the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act builds on the previous Cantwell/Hatch proposal to expand the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (Housing Credit) by 50 percent over five years to help reduce the country’s severe shortage of affordable rental homes, which hampers our economy and the health and education of our communities.
Without action, America’s affordable housing problem will grow by 25 percent, according to a new report released today by Senator Cantwell, highlighting the dramatic impacts of skyrocketing rents across the country.
Given that one in four renter households already pay more than half of their income on housing, leaving little for other necessities and reducing their chances at economic mobility, passing the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act cannot happen soon enough.
In addition to expanding the Housing Credit, this legislation will strengthen the Housing Credit by streamlining and making the financing of affordable rental homes more predictable; providing states additional flexibility; facilitating Housing Credit development in rural and Native American communities; increasing the Housing Credit’s ability to serve extremely low-income residents; and supporting the preservation of existing affordable rental homes. The Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act also contains critical provisions to support Housing Credit developments that rely on multifamily Housing Bonds, which provide financing to roughly 40 percent of all Housing Credit apartments.
AHTCC looks forward to working with Senator Cantwell, Chairman Hatch, Congress, and the Administration to advance the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act this year as a significant step toward overcoming the housing affordability challenges that are growing in rural, suburban, and urban communities nationwide.
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