Legislative State-of-Play
Tax Package Remains Stalled in the Senate
As previously reported, the House passed the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act (H.R. 7024) in late January and sent the bill to the Senate, where it remains at an impasse. This tax package contains two AHCIA-inspired Housing Credit provisions: temporarily restoring the 12.5 percent cut to the 9 Percent Housing Credit and lowering the bond financing threshold to 30 percent to facilitate increased production using the 4 Percent Housing Credit.
Upon the Senate’s return from its Easter Recess, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) sent his colleagues a letter on April 5 highlighting the Senate’s agenda for the coming weeks and months. While the letter did not explicitly address the tax package, he implied that the Senate could have an opportunity to consider it later.
Negotiations between the Senate’s lead tax-writers, Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-ID), have not revived after weeks of stagnation. However, AHCIA Senate Republican lead Todd Young (R-IN) has publicly stated his intention to work with his colleagues to see if a compromise might still be possible.
As we have reported previously, if Senators can reach a deal, the bill could see a vote on its own or it could be attached to another vehicle for consideration on the floor. Two possible vehicles are the Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill, which already contains a tax title, and the emergency spending bill to provide relief to the Port of Baltimore following the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in late March, which does not include a tax title at this juncture. However, there are political challenges that could impede the tax bill moving on either of those two vehicles.
Majority Leader Schumer has taken the preliminary step of “calendaring” the tax bill, which would allow him to bring the House-passed bill to the floor on its own. However, this does not mean he necessarily will bring the bill up for a vote, knowing that as currently written, it does not yet have enough Republican support to overcome a filibuster and would take up valuable floor time that Schumer could otherwise devote to competing priorities.
What’s Next and How You Can Help
Our best shot at enacting the housing provisions contained in the bill is to convince enough Republicans that it is worth supporting the bill, either as currently written or indicate their willingness to compromise. Republicans should communicate interest in the bill not only to Ranking Member Crapo and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), but also to Senator Young, to strengthen his hand in searching for an agreement.
We need ACTION members to keep weighing in with Senators. To assist advocates, ACTION created a webpage with links to templates and other materials for your outreach. Be sure also to include the support letter 120 national organizations and state affordable housing and community development coalitions – including many ACTION members – sent to the Senate on February 7. If you have any questions or need help contacting your Senators, please don’t hesitate to email us.
House Republicans Announce Members of 2025 Tax Teams
On April 24, House Republicans on the Ways and Means Committee announced the membership of ten informal “tax teams” charged with preparing for what is expected to be major tax action next year, after which the majority of the provisions from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA) expire.
One of the ten Republican tax teams will work on community development policy. Its members are Reps. Mike Kelly (R-PA-16; chair), Claudia Tenney (R-NY-24; vice chair), Darin LaHood (R-IL-16), Blake Moore (R-UT-01), and Mike Carey (R-OH-15). All members of the team are original cosponsors of the AHCIA – meaning they cosponsored the day the AHCIA was introduced in the House last year. ACTION will be working to advance as much of the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act as possible in that package. However, the Housing Credit’s inclusion is not guaranteed, regardless of which party controls the House next year, as it was not directly a part of the TCJA.
The anticipated 2025 tax bill is already being called the “Super Bowl” of tax packages and is rumored to have an estimated price tag of around $3 trillion. The connections you make now with your lawmakers will only help as we continue our advocacy into next year. Make sure to keep up the outreach to Ways and Means members and remind them to put AHCIA provisions at the top of their list for inclusion in next year’s bill!
Housing Credit Supported During Senate Banking Subcommittee Hearing
During an April 16 Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee subcommittee hearing on housing preservation, the Housing Credit was identified as a key tool for preserving affordable housing. Witnesses stressed to the subcommittee that enacting the AHCIA would further help address the challenges of preserving affordable housing.
April AHCIA Cosponsorship Update
The AHCIA currently has almost 48 percent of Congress cosponsoring, with supporters evenly divided by Republicans and Democrats. In the House, there were two new cosponsors this past month, bringing the total number of cosponsors there to 222.
- Mike Ezell (R-MS-04), April 5
- Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL-08), April 5
AHCIA Advocacy Resources
The ACTION Campaign has a number of advocacy materials to help support your outreach, including National, State, and Congressional District Fact Sheets, our video series detailing the provisions of the AHCIA of 2023, updated statewide ACTION Campaign member lists, an in-district advocacy guide, sample emails for outreach, as well as detailed information about the legislation in our Advocacy Toolkit. We also have a complete list of cosponsors from last Congress, where you can check if your Senators or Representative have cosponsored in the past, as well as the most up-to-date list of current cosponsors.
Administration Updates
HUD Publishes Changes to Income Limits for Housing Credit Properties
On April 1, HUD published 2024 annual income limits for multiple federal affordable housing programs, including the Housing Credit. The 2024 income limits include a change to HUD’s methodology setting in place an overall 10 percent cap on how much income limits can go up in any given year. Because Housing Credit income limits also determine allowable rents, this cap means that Housing Credit program rents are also capped at no more than a 10 percent annual increase in 2024 and future years. HUD issued a Notice in January requesting comments, indicating its intention to incorporate the new cap into its methodology.
IRS Reallocates $8.2 Million in Unused Housing Credits to 28 States
On April 8, the IRS published Revenue Procedure 2024-18, which reallocates unused Housing Credit carryovers to qualified states from the National Pool for Calendar Year 2023. The IRS will allocate an additional $8,165,903 in unused Housing Credits to the 28 states that previously received National Pool allocations under Rev. Proc. 2023-32, which ACTION previously covered.
ACTION Membership
In April, the ACTION Campaign welcomed two new members to the coalition. Please join us in welcoming the following new members:
- Milestone Development, LLC, New York
- Nebraska Department of Economic Development, Nebraska
Help ACTION continue to grow our membership and advocacy strength by encouraging your networks to support affordable housing and the Housing Credit by joining the coalition. Membership is free. Together, we can demonstrate to Members of Congress the widespread support for the Housing Credit across the country. You can also help strengthen our reach by following the ACTION Campaign’s LinkedIn page and inviting your connections to follow and join us.
Housing Credit Research
- An April 5 Notes from Novogradac blog post analyzes the anticipated impact of the changes to HUD’s income limits methodology.
- On April 17, FHFA published its 2023 Housing Mission Report detailing the affordable housing activities of the GSEs and the Federal Home Loan Banks for that year. The report revealed that the GSEs collectively invested more than $1.7 billion in Housing Credit equity, in order to meet its affordable housing goals such as meeting its Duty-to-Serve requirements to invest in rural areas, preserve affordable housing, provide supportive housing, and support mixed-income housing. It also revealed that Housing Credit properties comprised over 43 percent of the FHLBanks’ Affordable Housing Programs General Fund properties and 55 percent of their total General Fund rental properties.
Housing Credit in the News
- An April 1 article in Affordable Housing Finance details how affordable housing, especially that financed by the Housing Credit, can help serve people experiencing homelessness. The article profiles several ACTION members in Colorado, New York City, and Los Angeles County.
- An April 10 interview in Multi-Housing News with ACTION member CREA, LLC, explores the impacts of the Housing Credit and the necessity of passing the tax package.
- An April 18 press release from AHCIA cosponsor Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY-10) touts his work to address the housing crisis, including that he cosponsored the AHCIA.
- An April 18 article in Housing Wire examines the FHFA’s 2023 Housing Mission Report.
