Feb 10

U.S. House of Representatives Passes Housing for the 21st Century Act with Overwhelming Bipartisan Support 

The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Housing for the 21st Century Act by an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote of 390-9. This legislation includes the proposal to lift the public welfare investment (PWI) cap from 15 to 20 percent, which could unlock billions of dollars in additional investment in the Housing Credit. The final text of the House bill can be found here.

With the House having set its position, attention now turns to the Senate. Though there are areas of overlap between the House’s Housing for the 21st Century Act and the Senate’s ROAD to Housing Act, including the proposal to lift the PWI cap, there are a number of issues that will need to be resolved before a final housing package is enacted. (See a side-by-side from Novogradac comparing the House and Senate housing legislation.) The AHTCC and our partners will continue to urge adoption of a final housing package that includes the following key components:

  • The Housing for the 21st Century Act (H.R.6644) includes the proposal to lift the public welfare investment (PWI) cap from 15 to 20 percent. The proposal to lift the PWI cap comes from the Community Investment and Prosperity Act (H.R. 5913/S. 2464), led by Reps. Mike Lawler (R-NY), Joyce Beatty (D-OH), and Young Kim (R-CA) in the House and Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott (R-SC) and Sens. Lisa Blunt-Rochester (D-DE), Bernie Moreno (R-OH), and Andy Kim (D-NJ) in the Senate. The measure passed the Senate as part of the National Defense Authorization Act, which included a package of bipartisan housing provisions from the ROAD to Housing Act (S. 2651), led by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott (R-SC) and Ranking Member Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). It is well-positioned for any final housing package since it is included in both the Senate and House housing packages.
  • The Housing for the 21st Century Act also includes NEPA and HUD environmental review streamlining provisions, which would reduce delays for small, infill, and HUD-assisted housing projects. While this proposal is included in the House’s Housing for the 21st Century Act, it is not included in the Senate’s ROAD to Housing Act.
  • Though the Housing for the 21st Century Act includes many elements of the HOME Reform Act, the provision to exempt HOME funds from Build America, Buy America (BABA) requirements that was previously included in the legislation was not included in the updated bill text. Instead, the bill now includes a provision that would direct HUD to conduct an evaluation of BABA and issue updated guidance on it within 90 days. There may still be an opportunity to include the BABA exemption in a final negotiated bill between the House and the Senate, though the Senate’s ROAD to Housing Act is silent on BABA reforms.
The AHTCC has been actively engaged in advocacy efforts supporting the PWI cap increase proposal, which would expand private capital available for affordable housing by increasing banks’ capacity to invest in the Housing Credit. The AHTCC, Affordable Housing Investors Council and National Association of Affordable Housing Lenders recently surveyed 22 banks, representing more than $14 billion in 2024 Housing Credit investments. The survey found that over 42 percent of the represented investments ($6.1 billion) came from banks approaching the current 15 percent PWI cap. Expanding banks’ capacity to invest in the Housing Credit could help sustain demand for the additional credits made available through the program’s historic expansion in the One Big, Beautiful Bill Act (H.R. 1) earlier this year. Read more in the AHTCC’s fact sheet outlining how the PWI cap increase would impact affordable housing production.

“The Housing for the 21st Century Act provides a set of commonsense, bipartisan housing proposals that would increase the supply of affordable housing at a time when housing affordability is top of mind in every part of the country,” said Affordable Housing Tax Credit Coalition Chief Executive Officer Emily Cadik. “In particular, the proposal to lift banks’ public welfare investment cap would unlock billions of additional private sector investment to support affordable housing development using the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, the nation’s most successful tool for producing affordable rental housing. We applaud the House for passing this important legislation.”

“The Housing Credit has financed more than 4 million affordable homes since 1986 by leveraging private investment, and is poised to increase production significantly in the coming years thanks to the recent historic expansion,” said Dudley Benoit, President of the AHTCC Board of Directors and Senior Managing Director at Walker & Dunlop. “The PWI cap increase would serve as a welcome boost, allowing banks to more effectively leverage the Housing Credit and increase their investments in affordable housing nationwide.”