Peoria Standard

Washington, D.C. – Congressman Darin LaHood (IL-16) announced that bipartisan legislation he introduced, the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act of 2023, has received the support of over one-third of the U.S. House of Representatives. The legislation, which would support the construction of nearly two million new affordable homes over the next decade, surpassed 150 cosponsors in August. 

This month, the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act of 2023 reached 161 cosponsors in the House, maintaining strong bipartisan support with 80 Republicans and 81 Democrats. The Senate companion legislation has reached 27 cosponsors, with 14 Republicans and 13 Democrats.

“Securing support from over one-third of the U.S. House of Representatives on the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act is an important step towards improving affordable housing opportunities  across the United States," said Rep. LaHood. “As I travel throughout communities in the 16th District of Illinois, I frequently hear about the affordable housing crisis, especially in our rural areas. This bipartisan bill will modernize the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit and help expand our housing supply, strengthening communities and supporting economic development in Illinois and across the county.”

"The extensive bipartisan support the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act has achieved in so short a time shows that members of Congress from across the ideological spectrum are ready to put aside their differences and work together to meet the housing needs of their constituents. The housing crisis impacts every state and district, spanning the red-blue divide, and the Housing Credit is the most important tool we have to bring private sector investment into desperately needed affordable housing. Despite the need, this essential program suffered a cut in resources in 2022 after an increase in Housing Credit authority expired. It’s time to restore that cut, further expand this program’s resources, and make common sense improvements to further strengthen this already successful program. We call on Congressional leaders to recognize the strong support for this legislation by passing it this year," said the Steering Committee of the ACTION Campaign, a coalition of over 2,400 national, state, and local organizations and businesses.

The Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act would support the financing of more affordable housing by expanding and strengthening the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (Housing Credit), our country’s most successful affordable housing program. The bill is led by Representatives LaHood, Suzan DelBene (WA-01), Brad Wenstrup (OH-02), Don Beyer (VA-08), Claudia Tenney (NY-24), and Jimmy Panetta (CA-19), and Senators Maria Cantwell (WA), Todd Young (IN), Ron Wyden (OR), and Marsha Blackburn (TN). 

The nationwide housing crisis continues to worsen. Currently, nearly one-in-four renters or, over 10 million families, spend more than half of their household income on rent, cutting into other essential expenses like child care, medication, groceries, and transportation. At the same time, nearly 600,000 Americans are experiencing homelessness on any given day, an increase over pre-COVID levels.

The bill would support the financing of nearly 2 million new affordable homes by:

• Increasing the amount of credits allocated to each state. The legislation would increase the number of credits available to states by 50 percent for the next two years and make the temporary 12.5 percent increase secured in 2018 permanent—which has already helped build more than 59,000 additional affordable housing units nationwide.
• Increasing the number of affordable housing projects that can be built using private activity bonds. This provision would stabilize financing for workforce housing projects built using private activity bonds by decreasing the amount of private activity bonds needed to secure Housing Credit funding. As a result, projects would have to carry less debt, and more projects would be eligible to receive funding.
• Improving the Housing Credit program to better serve at-risk and underserved communities. The legislation would also make improvements to the program to better serve veterans, victims of domestic violence, formerly homeless students, Native American communities, and rural Americans.

Learn more about the legislation HERE. A summary of the legislation provided by the ACTION campaign can be found HERE. The text of the legislation can be found HERE. 

Original source can be found here.