Senators Reintroduce Bipartisan Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act

Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Todd Young (R-IN), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), and Ron Wyden (D-OR) introduced the Senate version of the “Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act of 2025” (AHCIA) (S. 1515) which would expand and reform the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC). An identical companion bill was introduced in the House of Representatives on April 8 (see Memo 4/14). 

The AHCIA would enact reforms to make LIHTC a better tool for development in underserved communities, including a basis boost for developments that set aside at least 20% of units to be affordable to extremely low-income households, and a basis boost for properties in rural and tribal communities. It would also increase the allocation of credits by 50% over two years and adjust rules to facilitate the production and preservation of more homes financed with tax-exempt bonds.  

The LIHTC program is the largest federal program designed to build and preserve affordable homes, supporting the construction or preservation of 4 million rental homes since the program’s creation in 1986. However, apartments built using LIHTC are still too expensive for extremely low-income renters, who make up nearly half of LIHTC property residents. 

“If enacted, the AHCIA 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,” said NLIHC Interim President and CEO Renee Willis in a press release. “These improvements to the LIHTC program are a necessary step toward addressing our nation’s affordable housing crisis.” 

Read NLIHC’s press release here: https://bit.ly/44cFUdG 

Read the bill text here: https://bit.ly/4lZURX2  

Read more about needed reforms to LIHTC here: https://bit.ly/42UkUpD