| Today the cloture vote on the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act failed to advance in the Senate, by a vote of 48-44. It was not a straight party line vote, with Republican Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO), Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), and Rick Scott (R-FL) voting to advance the bill despite opposition from Republican leadership, and Independent Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Joe Manchin (I-WV) voting against it. The vote ends a six-month standstill over the legislation, which passed the House with 357 votes earlier this year and encountered immediate opposition from Senate Republican leadership over process as well a substance, primarily related to the Child Tax Credit provisions. None of the objections to the tax bill from either side of the aisle have been about the Housing Credit.
Despite the failed vote today, there is continued interest among some members in advancing components of the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act, and there has been some talk in recent days about whether individual pieces from the tax bill could still be considered during the lame duck session of congress after the election. In order to position the Housing Credit provisions from the tax bill as best we can for whatever comes next, we encourage all AHTCC members to continue to urge that Congress take up the bipartisan, non-controversial, extremely impactful, and long overdue Housing Credit provisions from the tax bill this year. These Housing Credit provisions would:
1. Restore the 12.5% Housing Credit allocation increase that expired at the end of 2021, and
2. Reduce the private activity bond threshold requirement from 50% to 30% to access four percent Housing Credits.
These provisions would finance the development or preservation of over 200,000 more affordable rental homes than otherwise possible and are supported by 120 national and state affordable housing organizations. The Housing Credit provisions in the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act were derived from the bipartisan AHCIA of 2023 (S.1557/H.R.3238), which is cosponsored by 34 Senators and 230 House members, evenly divided by Republicans and Democrats in both chambers – nearly half of the entire 118th Congress. With the affordable housing crisis persisting in urban, suburban, and rural communities, and a record breaking half of American renters considered cost-burdened, the affordable housing production resources included in the bill are urgently needed.
We thank all AHTCC members for your tremendous advocacy efforts that allowed for inclusion of the Housing Credit provisions in the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act, and ask for your continued engagement as we work to still advance these provisions in any potential tax legislation this year, as well as situate the Housing Credit on the best possible footing for 2025 tax legislation. |
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