AHCIA House Leads Send Letter to House Leadership in Support of Housing Credit’s Inclusion in Tax Package
On Friday, December 15, the House leads of the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act (AHCIA, H.R. 3238) sent a letter to Speaker Mike Johnson and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries urging them to include Housing Credit provisions in any tax package that emerges in the coming weeks. The letter was covered in Politico’s Morning Tax newsletter, highlighting the lawmakers’ message: “At a time of heightening division and negativity in our politics, this crisis transcends party because it affects everyone. With such a packed agenda for Congress heading into early 2024, we must act now before America’s affordable housing crisis gets any worse.”
While the House has adjourned for the year, behind-the-scenes negotiations on tax legislation continue. There are a number of tax provisions from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 that have already expired, while other provisions from that law are authorized through 2025. Congressional tax-writers have indicated they want to push forward a tax package that would cover major priorities until an expected larger package is negotiated after the 2024 election.
The two-step temporary funding bill that Congress passed in November – covered in ACTION’s December newsletter – provides the best opportunity to serve as a vehicle for a tax package in the new year. Tax experts largely believe that the expiration of that stopgap funding bill for the first set of Federal departments on January 19 may be the last chance to pass tax legislation, as the longer that Congress waits, the harder it would be for the IRS to enact tax changes before the April 15 filing deadline.
The AHCIA’s House leads set a new goal of getting to 218 cosponsors – a majority of the House of Representatives – as soon as possible. The House version of the AHCIA achieved its 200th cosponsor last week, and since its cosponsorship list is evenly split between Republicans and Democrats, it is the most cosponsored bipartisan tax bill in that chamber. With 17 Democrats in the queue at this time, only nine more Republicans need to cosponsor for the AHCIA to achieve the goal of reaching 218. In the Senate, there are 30 cosponsors, evenly divided by party. There are 24 Democrats waiting to be added as additional Republican senators cosponsor.
Continuing to increase support for the AHCIA is critical for our advocacy to secure provisions from the legislation in the tax package Congress is currently negotiating. If you have any questions or want help with your own advocacy work, please let us know!
ACTION Fact Sheets Updated
As a reminder, ACTION recently updated its National, State, and District Fact Sheets with the latest data on the impact of the Housing Credit and the AHCIA. The new fact sheets provide the perfect opportunity for advocates to follow up with their Members of Congress with the updated data and ask them again to cosponsor the AHCIA. If your legislators are already cosponsors, please share the updated fact sheets and ask them to weigh in with their respective tax committee and chamber leaders, asking them to include the Housing Credit in any tax package that moves forward in Congress.
Check out the rest of our advocacy toolkit as well!
Reminder: January Monthly Newsletter & 2023 Year-in-Review Coming January 2
Another friendly reminder that since New Year’s Day is on a Monday, ACTION will send its January monthly newsletter and 2023 year-in-review on Tuesday, January 2. The January monthly meeting date and time remain unchanged: Friday, January 6 at 2:00 PM ET.
Happy holidays!
