In the 116th Congress, the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act of 2019 (AHCIA) gained overwhelming support, with more than one-half of the House and forty percent of the Senate signed on. The AHCIA is bipartisan legislation that would expand and strengthen the Housing Credit to provide an additional 610,000 affordable homes over the next 10 years. In June of 2019, the legislation was introduced by Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Todd Young (R-IN), Ron Wyden (D-OR), and Johnny Isakson (R-GA), and Representatives Suzan DelBene (D-WA-1), Kenny Marchant (R-TX-24), Don Beyer (D-VA-8) and Jackie Walorski (R-IN-2). The AHCIA will again be introduced in the 117th Congress.
Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act of 2019
Impact of the AHCIA
- Provide and preserve an additional 610,000 affordable homes over the next 10 years.
- Enable the Housing Credit to better serve special populations, such as extremely low-income and formerly homeless tenants, survivors of domestic violence, and veterans of the armed services.
- Enable the Housing Credit to better serve hard-to-reach communities including rural, Native American, high-poverty, and high-cost communities.
AHCIA Provisions
The AHCIA of 2019 includes 27 provisions that would expand and strengthen the Housing Credit.
To increase the production and preservation by more than 610,000 additional affordable homes over 10 years, the AHCIA would:
- Increase the annual Housing Credit allocation by 50% over current law, phased in over 5 years,
- Set a minimum 4% Housing Credit rate to provide predictability and allow for the financing of more developments that use the Housing Credit in conjunction with Housing Bonds, and
- Expand the ability to recycle Multifamily Housing Bonds in Housing Credit financing.
To facilitate the preservation of affordable housing, the AHCIA would:
- Strengthen protections against planned foreclosures,
- Facilitate tenant relocation during the rehabilitation of Housing Credit properties, and
- Provide flexibility around existing tenant income when properties are refinanced.
To better serve hard-to-reach areas, the AHCIA would:
- Allow for additional Housing Credits to help make more properties in rural and Native American communities financially feasible, and
- Allow for more Housing Credit developments in high-poverty areas in need of revitalization, as well as high-cost areas.
To better serve special populations, the AHCIA would:
- Facilitate the use of the Housing Credit for veterans housing,
- Provide additional Housing Credits for developments serving extremely low-income and formerly homeless tenants, and
- Better align the Housing Credit with the Violence Against Women Act.
To streamline and simplify the Housing Credit, the AHCIA would:
- Strengthen the Housing Credit student rule,
- Make improvements to the newly enacted income averaging option, and
- Make the Housing Credit compatible with energy tax incentives.
To fight NIMBYism (Not In My Backyard) and promote good governance, the AHCIA would:
- Prohibit local approval and contributions requirements, and
- Establish a selection criterion for cost reasonableness.
The AHCIA includes additional provisions that would further strengthen the Housing Credit. For more information, read the details of the AHCIA.
Additional Information
- AHTCC Webinar on Advocating for the AHCIA of 2019 PowerPoint and recording
- Cosponsors of the Senate version of the AHCIA (S.1703)
- Cosponsors of the House version of the AHCIA (H.R.3077)
