Representative Keith Ellison (D-MN) is circulating a “Dear Colleague” letter asking members of the House of Representatives to cosponsor the “Common Sense Housing Investment Act of 2015,” which he plans to introduce later this month. The bill includes the United for Homes campaign’s proposed modifications to the mortgage interest deduction (MID), and would direct the majority of the revenue raised by the modifications to the National Housing Trust Fund.

Mr. Ellison states in the letter, “We need a new approach to raise needed revenue to address the affordable rental housing crisis. My bill, the Common Sense Housing Investment Act of 2015, would invest more than $200 billion over ten years to expand the supply of affordable rental housing for extremely low-income families, veterans, people with disabilities and the elderly.”

The United for Homes campaign, led by NLIHC, proposes to modify the current MID by reducing the size of a mortgage eligible for a tax break to $500,000 and converting the deduction to a 15% non-refundable tax credit.

Funding the NHTF with funds raised by modifying the MID is one of NLIHC’s top policy priorities. NLIHC urges advocates to ask their Representatives in Congress to cosponsor the bill.

The Dear Colleague is attached. http://nlihc.org/sites/default/files/Dear-Colleague-Letter_MID-Reform-Bill.pdf

More information about mortgage interest reform is at http://nlihc.org/unitedforhomes/proposal, and on page 3-19 of NLIHC’s 2015 Advocates’ Guide, http://nlihc.org/library/guides