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The Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act (AHCIA) was reintroduced in the House today with 117 bipartisan cosponsors, representing over 30 states and over a quarter of the House of Representatives. According to recent estimates from Novogradac, the legislation would finance 1.6 million more urgently needed affordable rental homes in the next decade than otherwise possible. With the national shortage of affordable housing continuing to worsen the cost-of-living crisis, half of all U.S. renters paying unaffordable rent, and national homelessness on the rise, the legislation comes at a time when the need is greater than ever.
House Ways and Means Committee members Representatives Darin LaHood (R-IL), Suzan DelBene (D-WA), Claudia Tenney (R-NY), Don Beyer (D-VA), Randy Feenstra (R-IA), and Jimmy Panetta (D-CA) introduced the legislation with broad bipartisan support, which has increased substantially in every congress since it was first introduced in 2016.
“To address this growing crisis across the country, Congress must strengthen tools to drive investment into affordable workforce housing and expand housing options for hardworking families nationwide,” said Rep. LaHood. “I am proud to reintroduce the bipartisan Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act… to strengthen our communities and support economic development.”
The list of original cosponsors of the AHCIA of 2025 is the largest since it was first introduced in 2016 – more than doubling the number of original cosponsors from the last Congress. A companion bill in the U.S. Senate is slated for introduction soon.
“The overwhelming bipartisan support for the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act of 2025 underscores the critical need to increase the supply of affordable rental homes,” said AHTCC Chief Executive Officer Emily Cadik. “We thank the bill’s sponsors for their leadership and the more than 100 bipartisan House cosponsors for supporting this commonsense solution to expand and strengthen the Housing Credit.”
The AHCIA of 2025 is sponsored by Congressman Darin LaHood (R-IL) with 58 Republican and 58 Democratic additional House Cosponsors (117 total) as of April 8, 2025.
In the 118th Congress, over half of the House of Representatives—274 members—cosponsored the AHCIA, including majorities of both Republicans and Democrats and more than two-thirds of the Ways and Means Committee. Key provisions from the bill passed the House of Representatives with overwhelming support as part of the bipartisan Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024 (H.R.7024): restoring the 12.5 percent expansion of the Housing Credit signed into law by President Trump in 2018 and allowed to expire in 2021, and easing the private activity bond threshold requirements for accessing four percent credits.
Among other provisions to increase the supply of affordable housing, the AHCIA provides states with additional flexibilities, streamlines program rules, and makes the Housing Credit more efficient in harder-to-reach areas, such as rural and Native American communities. More information on the AHCIA’s provisions to expand and strengthen the Housing Credit can be found using the resources below:
“With our nation’s housing crisis reaching record levels, there is a strong imperative for Congress to act. The affordable housing crisis affects every state and all types of communities,” said Dudley Benoit, President of the AHTCC Board of Directors and Executive Vice President of Walker & Dunlop. “The Housing Credit has proven to be an effective tool in urban and rural areas alike. Without action, this crisis will continue to spiral, leaving more families unable to find affordable housing in their communities and making it more difficult for those communities to support a workforce.”
As Republicans in Congress consider tax legislation as part of their efforts to advance President Trump’s domestic policy agenda through the reconciliation process, the AHTCC continues to advocate for the inclusion of long overdue Housing Credit provisions from the AHCIA. Over the weekend, the Senate passed a resolution that adopts a one-bill approach and enables tax legislation that could raise the deficit by up to $1.5 trillion—relying on the controversial ‘current policy baseline’ accounting method, which treats extensions of the 2017 Trump tax cuts as having no cost. House Republican leaders are now pushing to advance the Senate resolution without changes, aiming for a floor vote as soon as this week despite mounting resistance from some concerned about the deficit impact.
Until both chambers adopt the same resolution, Republicans cannot unlock reconciliation to advance tax legislation—including Housing Credit provisions—along party lines.
Building on the AHCIA’s strong bipartisan support is especially crucial, as the reconciliation process opens a critical window for Congress to address the nation’s affordable housing crisis by expanding the Housing Credit. AHTCC members are encouraged to continue reaching out to House offices and prepare for outreach to Senate offices in the near future. |
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