Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Todd Young (R-IN), Ron Wyden (D-OR), and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), along with Representatives Darin LaHood (R-IL), Suzan DelBene (D-WA), Brad Wenstrup (R-OH), Don Beyer (D-VA), Claudia Tenney (R-NY), and Jimmy Panetta (D-CA) introduced the “Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act of 2023” (AHCIA) (“S.1557”/“H.R.3238”) to expand and reform the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC), the largest national affordable housing production program in the U.S. If enacted, the bill would take important steps toward alleviating the growing rental housing affordability crisis by expanding and reforming the tax credit to better serve the nation’s lowest-income families – those with the greatest and clearest needs.
“As more extremely low-income households struggle to afford to keep a roof over their head, and as homelessness increases in many communities, Congress must take every action to address the severe shortage of homes affordable to the lowest-income people,” said NLIHC President and CEO Diane Yentel in a statement applauding the bill. “The reforms proposed in the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act enable states and communities to better ensure that homes built with the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit are affordable to the lowest-income seniors, people with disabilities, families with children, and low-wage workers. Congress must include in any tax package these critically needed reforms to better serve households with the greatest needs.”
LIHTC is the primary source of financing for the construction and preservation of affordable housing, but homes financed solely with the tax credit are very rarely affordable to renter households with the lowest incomes. If enacted, the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act would reform the tax credit to provide additional incentives to developers to build homes affordable to the extremely low-income households who are most impacted by the housing crisis, as well as underserved rural and Native American communities. These improvements to the LIHTC program are a necessary step toward addressing our nation’s affordable housing crisis.
Read NLIHC’s press statement on the bill at: https://bit.ly/3pBOGzL
Read Senator Cantwell’s press release on the bill at: https://bit.ly/3O1qmRN
Urge your members of Congress to pass LIHTC reforms through the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act at: https://p2a.co/ZhQtlH2