National Housing Groups Call on Congress, Administration to Use MID Reform to Fund Low Income Housing
As the debate heats up on how to solve the nation’s fiscal problems, the mortgage interest deduction is under scrutiny. A front page article in The Washington Post on November 28 said the “mortgage interest deduction could be on the table in ‘fiscal cliff’ debate.”
In response, over 20 national organizations that work to preserve and expand the supply of housing affordable to low income people wrote to Administration and Congressional leadership urging that savings gained from changes to mortgage interest deduction be used to address the longstanding unmet housing needs of low income Americans.
In the December 3 letter, the organizations assert that “[h]ousing that is affordable for low income and vulnerable people has been neglected by the federal government for decades,” and that recent polling shows the public supports modifications to the mortgage interest deduction that can help create jobs and end homelessness.
The signatories agree that the fiscal cliff negotiations present a unique window in which to finally address housing needs that have gone unmet for decades. “This moment in time offers the opportunity to achieve a greater measure of fairness in federal housing policy, without adding to the deficit.”
Read the Washington Post article.
The letter to the Obama Administration is available here.