Reminder: July ACTION Monthly Call Rescheduled
As a reminder, ACTION’s July monthly meeting has been moved to Friday, July 12 at 2:00 PM ET in light of the July 4 holiday.
Legislative State-of-Play
Tax Package Still Remains Stalled in the Senate
The Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act (H.R. 7024), which was passed overwhelmingly in late January by the House, still remains stalled in the Senate. ACTION has continued to advocate for the Senate to take up the bill, which contains two AHCIA-inspired Housing Credit provisions: temporarily restoring the 12.5 percent increase 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.
In March, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) took the preliminary step of “calendaring” the tax package. This procedure allows him to bring the bill to the floor at any time, but if and when he might bring it forward for consideration by the chamber is still unknown.
AHCIA Senate leads Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Todd Young (R-IN) continue their vocal support for the package and commitment to working across party lines with their colleagues to see if a compromise might be possible. As noted in previous reports, the tax package’s Housing Credit provisions are widely supported and not one of the points of contention. Senate Finance Committee Chair and AHCIA co-lead Ron Wyden (D-OR) is still pressing for a vote on the Senate floor, ideally before the August Recess.
What’s Next and How You Can Help
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 on the tax package.
With the August Recess rapidly approaching, now is an ideal time to invite Members of Congress to property tours, ground breakings, and ribbon cuttings while they are at home later this summer. Their schedules will likely fill up fast with campaign events, so we encourage you to begin outreach to congressional schedulers as soon as possible. Site visits continue to be the most effective method for securing and maintaining support of the Housing Credit and cosponsorship of the AHCIA.
To help, ACTION has updated its in-district advocacy guide, detailing steps advocates can take to build support for the Housing Credit during the recess — everything from a quick post on social media if you have only a few minutes to an op-ed if you have an hour or two. If you have even more time, we especially encourage ACTION members to contact your Members of Congress’ offices ASAP to invite them to view the Housing Credit in action in their communities, including groundbreakings, ribbon cuttings, or site visits. If you need assistance with invitations or planning tips in the meantime, please reach out to actioncampaign@enterprisecommunity.org.
Importance of Housing Credit for Financing Affordable Housing Stressed in Senate Hearing
During a June 18 Senate Appropriations Subcommittee hearing, the Housing Credit was mentioned as a critical source of financing for affordable housing, especially in the context of transit-oriented development. One witness suggested potential reforms that the Department of Transportation could make to smooth the process for combining Housing Credit funding with resources from the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) program.
Talking Points for House Ways and Means Republicans’ RFI on 2025 Tax Package
As covered in the June newsletter, the House Ways and Means Republican Tax Teams established in preparation for tax action in 2025 have requested input to inform their work. ACTION strongly encourages its grassroots members to send recommendation letters to the Community Development Tax Team, which will oversee affordable housing ideas. To aid you, we have created a guide, including key points for you to include in your letters to this Tax Team – which are due no later than October 15 – and instructions for submission. The Tax Teams have stressed that tailored, personalized letters are strongly preferred, so please incorporate your unique story into the letter you send.
June AHCIA Cosponsorship Update
The AHCIA currently has over 49 percent of Congress cosponsoring, with supporters evenly divided by Republicans and Democrats. In the House, there were six new cosponsors this past month, bringing the total number of cosponsors there to 230.
- Delia Ramirez (D-IL-03), June 4
- Barry Loudermilk (R-GA-11), June 4
- Bill Foster (D-IL-11), June 4
- Tom Kean (R-NY-07), June 4
- Grace Napolitano (D-CA-31), June 25
- Kelly Armstrong (R-ND-AL), June 25
As a reminder, 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 updated 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
Treasury Announces New Efforts to Lower Housing Costs
On June 24, the Treasury Department announced several new efforts aimed to lower housing costs and boost supply. While not every announced action directly relates to the Housing Credit, they might dovetail with it. One action, however, will: the CDFI Fund has published a revised interim rule for its Capital Magnet Fund (CMF) that, in part, aims to better align the CMF with the Housing Credit. Public comments on the interim rule are due by August 26. In a speech unveiling these actions, Sec. Janet Yellen announced that Treasury will be exploring other ways it can strengthen the Housing Credit program in order to ensure the homes it finances remain affordable. She also called on the Senate to pass the tax package.
ACTION Membership
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
- Results from a nationally representative survey published June 10 by the Bipartisan Policy Center on housing affordability revealed strong support among respondents for strengthening and expanding the Housing Credit. The survey found that 67 percent of adults, 77 percent of Democrats, 57 percent of independents, and 69 percent of Republican respondents expressed support for expanding the Housing Credit.
- Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies published the 2024 edition of its flagship annual report, The State of the Nation’s Housing. Among other things, it finds that housing costs remain high in the aftermath of COVID-era spikes. It also finds that the number of cost-burdened renter households – those paying more than 30 percent of their income on rent – increased by about 2 million from 2019 to 2022, to 22.4 million households, or half of all renter households. Similarly, the number of severely cost-burdened renter households – those spending more than half their income on rent – increased by about 1.5 million from 2019 to 2022, to 12.1 million households. Both these numbers are the highest on record.
- ACTION Steering Committee member National Low Income Housing Coalition published the 2024 edition of its annual Out of Reach: the High Cost of Housing report. It finds that the 2024 housing wage – how much a full-time worker must earn to afford a modest rental home at fair market rent without spending more than 30 percent of income – is $32.11 for a two-bedroom rental home and $26.74 for a one-bedroom rental home.
- The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) published the 2023 edition of its annual Report to Congress. It revealed that $1.6 billion, or over 90 percent, of the Housing Credit investments made by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were targeted to areas designated by FHFA as rural or met other FHFA affordable housing goals. It also revealed that Housing Credit properties represented over half of all rental properties financed by the Federal Home Loan Banks’ Affordable Housing Program General Fund. The AHP General Fund financed 189 properties in 2023, which received over $161 million in AHP funding.
- A June 10 Notes from Novogradac article analyzes the nearly 50 percent decrease in 2024 Housing Trust Fund (HTF) grants compared to 2023. The HTF is a critical source of gap financing for the Housing Credit. The article calls on Congress to pass the AHCIA to help rectify this problem.
Housing Credit in the News
- The U.S. Conference of Mayors endorsed several federal proposals regarding affordable housing, including the tax package, at their 92nd annual meeting.
- A June 12 article in the Tennessee Lookout details the affordable housing crisis in Memphis. The article notes that the AHCIA would enable the most funding for affordable housing to become available to solve Memphis’ affordable housing crisis. Tennessee’s senior Senator, Marsha Blackburn, is a co-lead of the AHCIA.
- A June 14 article in Forbes analyzes the benefits of combining the Housing Credit with Historic Tax Credits for creating affordable housing.
- A June 24 article in HousingWire covers the Treasury’s actions to increase affordable housing and Sec. Yellen’s call to action for the Senate to pass the tax package.
- A June 25 op-ed in Newsweek discusses the results from the national survey conducted by the Bipartisan Policy Center mentioned above. It urges Congress to address the housing crisis by passing legislation such as the AHCIA.
- A June 26 blog post by the National Association of Home Builders, an ACTION Steering Committee member, notes the importance of the Housing Credit and urges Congress to pass the AHCIA and the tax package in order to provide more financing for affordable homes.
- A June 26 article in Bloomberg Law covers the AHCIA provisions in the tax package and features perspectives from AHCIA Senate lead sponsors Maria Cantwell and Ron Wyden and Senate Leader Chuck Schumer. The article includes quotes from ACTION co-chair NCSHA and ACTION Steering Committee member NLIHC.
- A June 27 op-ed in Shelterforce by ACTION members NeighborWorks Capital and the National Equity Fund previews their new joint fund aimed at helping nonprofit Housing Credit developers get better terms in development deals.
- A June 27 article in Globe St. notes that the Housing Credit is the top program for financing affordable housing and that the current affordable housing crisis is so bad that Congress included provisions to expand it in the tax package.
- A June 28 tweet by the United Church of Christ called on Congress to pass the AHCIA.
- A July 2 op-ed in HousingWire calls on Congress to, among other things, strengthen and expand the Housing Credit to increase the supply of affordable housing, lower the costs of housing, and even increase homeownership numbers.
- In a July 2 interview on CNBC, former HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan discusses the affordable housing crisis and the State of the Nation’s Housing report mentioned above. Secretary Donovan is CEO and President of ACTION co-chair Enterprise.
- In a July 2 op-ed in HousingWire, Ayrianne Parks, co-chair of ACTION for Enterprise, describes the importance of the Housing Credit and how it has helped alleviate the affordable housing crisis. She calls on Congress to strengthen and expand the program.
- A July 2 op-ed in CityBiz urged both presidential campaigns to focus on addressing the affordable housing crisis, including by expanding the Housing Credit.
