Legislative Update & Current Advocacy Strategy
119th Congress Begins; Major Tax Activity Anticipated
The 119th Congress started on January 3 with a busy agenda for the year ahead, including a major tax package currently under negotiation. With many provisions from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA), along with a number of other tax policies set to expire at the end of the year, all eyes are waiting to see when and how a bill might move forward. With Republicans controlling the House, the Senate, and the Presidency, they are expected to pass a budget resolution allowing them to utilize a parliamentary procedure called budget reconciliation to fast-track tax legislation and bypass the filibuster in the Senate, as explained in the December newsletter.
Even with unanimous control in Washington, passing tax legislation will not be without hurdles. The extremely narrow Republican majority in the House will require extraordinary party discipline to advance any agenda item, including the budget resolution needed to allow for reconciliation to be used to pass an eventual tax bill. Budget resolutions—which must also establish a topline funding amount for discretionary spending—can be particularly difficult to advance. Deficit hawks in the House may not see eye-to-eye on spending limits with their colleagues on the Appropriations Committee and other Members seeking to protect their priority programs. Moreover, a budget resolution will also need to quantify the allowable foregone revenue amount for a tax bill relying on reconciliation. Deficit hawks are already balking at the cost of extending the TCJA, let alone many of the other tax provisions the incoming president and other Republican colleagues are seeking.
Assuming Republicans can come together to pass a budget resolution, they’ll then need to agree on the policy fine print for the tax bill and how to squeeze everything they want to do into whatever total foregone revenue amount the budget resolution will allow. Then they need to make sure that the policies they are pursuing in the bill will adhere to the Senate parliamentarian’s perspective on the requirements for a reconciliation bill.
Moreover, tax legislation isn’t the only thing on their plate as we get started with 2025. Congress must also agree on final spending amounts for the government for fiscal year 2025 (FY25), which started last October 1. The current stopgap funding measure expires on March 14.
While Congress is negotiating FY25 spending, it will also need to consider what to do about the debt limit, which went back into place January 1 after having been suspended since June of 2023. Treasury Secretary Yellen has said that America will hit the statutory debt ceiling sometime between January 14 and January 23, at which point “extraordinary measures” will be needed to prevent the government from defaulting on its debt.
Meanwhile, the Senate will be busy confirming President Trump’s nominees for key Administration positions, including cabinet secretaries and other high-level appointments.
Last, but not least, other policies important to President Trump, including immigration and border security legislation, will be on deck for congressional action and are likely to need to rely on reconciliation for passage. Republican leaders in Congress, in concert with the President, need to finalize their strategy for advancing tax and these other priorities, as there are limits to how many bills can make use of the expedited reconciliation process.
At present, Republicans remain divided over whether to attempt two separate reconciliation bills this year—one for immigration and border security and the other for tax—or combine those issues into a single piece of legislation. Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO-08), who leads the House Ways and Means Committee, where all tax legislation must originate in Congress in accordance with the U.S. Constitution, has been clear since at least last summer that his preference is to move tax quickly via one reconciliation bill. Newly re-elected House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA-04) seems to be aligned with his chamber’s tax leader, noting his desire to pass one reconciliation bill to advance President-elect Trump’s agenda by Memorial Day, which includes tax.
This weekend, President-elect Trump also confirmed his support for a one-bill strategy. However, this morning (Jan. 6), POLITICO reported that he may still be open to two bills, which is the approach Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) favors. Regardless of where they land, we need to be actively engaged with Members of Congress on the importance of including the Housing Credit in any tax bill that moves forward.
AHCIA Reintroduction Forthcoming
The start of a new Congress means reintroduction of the AHCIA and restarting the cosponsorship drive. ACTION is strategizing with the AHCIA lead congressional sponsors’ offices on reintroduction strategy and timing, including what – if any – modifications they would like to make to the bill. Since one of the House Republican co-leads, Rep. Brad Wenstrup, retired at the end of the 118th Congress, the remaining leads also are considering who they’d like to invite to step up to replace him.
Stay tuned for more information. As soon as the AHCIA bill sponsors make these decisions, we’ll be sure to let you know.
New Members of Tax Committees
With the start of the new Congress comes changes in committee membership. Below are lists of new members on Congress’ tax-writing committees (as of this writing, House Democrats have not announced their new Ways and Means additions):
Senate Finance:
- Roger Marshall (R-KS)
- Bernie Sanders (I-VT)
- Tina Smith (D-MN)
- Ben Ray Luján (D-NM)
- Raphael Warnock (D-GA)
- Peter Welch (D-VT)
House Ways and Means:
- Aaron Bean (R-FL-04)
- Rudy Yakym (R-IN-02)
- Max Miller (R-OH-07)
- Nathaniel Moran (R-TX-01)
2024 Year in Review
As we head into 2025, we wanted to pause and reflect on our advocacy over this past year and major events affecting our work:
AHCIA Cosponsorship | ACTION’s advocacy secured record increases in cosponsors for the AHCIA!
- When the AHCIA was introduced in 2023, the House bill, H.R. 3238, had a historic 66 original cosponsors, including the bill’s six lead sponsors, split evenly among Republicans and Democrats. As of the close of 2024, it boasted 274 cosponsors, including 12 committee chairs and 80 percent of the Ways and Means Committee, a record high cosponsorship rate for that committee. Moreover, H.R. 3238 was the most cosponsored of all tax bills in the House in the 118th Congress.
- The numbers in the Senate are similarly robust: S. 1557 had 35 cosponsors, including more GOP Senate cosponsors than in any previous Congress (the AHCIA was initially introduced in the 114th Congress). In addition to the official cosponsor roster, 24 Democrats supported AHCIA but were not officially added to the cosponsor count in an effort to maintain greater party parity. Senate supporters of the bill include the chairs of 20 committees and 61 percent of the Finance Committee.
- The AHCIA also had the entire House delegations of 14 states, the entire Senate delegations of 19 states, and the entire congressional delegations of seven states. Additionally, the AHCIA counted nine members of Senate Democratic leadership, one member of Senate Republican leadership, six members of House Republican leadership, and eight members of House Democratic leadership as cosponsors.
- Demonstrating the ideological scope of cosponsors, the AHCIA had significant representation from both the conservative Freedom Caucus and the liberal Progressive Caucus.
- All told, the AHCIA counted 309 total cosponsors, including leads, across all of Congress, or nearly 60 percent of Congress!
Learn more about the cosponsorship records and the Senators who were held in the queue. Here is the final list of AHCIA cosponsors in 2024.
ACTION Congressional Outreach | ACTION and its members’ advocacy was at peak strength in 2024!
- House and Senate congressional offices heard from us throughout the year via well over 100 virtual and in-person meetings.
- ACTION members also made untold numbers of calls and email connections with their delegations to advocate for the Housing Credit and advancement of our bill.
ACTION’s Advocacy and Education Materials | To help our grassroots advocates educate Members about the Housing Credit and make the case for the AHCIA, ACTION developed or updated a plethora of advocacy materials.
- This summer, ACTION published its updated In-District Advocacy Guide, providing advocates with pro tips on how to best engage Members of Congress and their staff, including how to invite them to a Housing Credit site visit, conduct a meeting with Members and their staff, publish an op-ed, write a letter to the editor, and promote the Housing Credit and the AHCIA on social media.
- ACTION maintained National, State, and District Fact Sheets, most recently updated in November of 2024, containing the latest data on the impact of the Housing Credit and projected effects of the AHCIA in every state and congressional district.
Check out the advocacy toolkit!
Letters on the Housing Credit | ACTION organized letters to Congress in support of the Housing Credit.
- As the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act (TRAFWA, R. 7024) was being debated in the House Ways and Means Committee and by the full House, ACTION helped organize a letter to congressional tax committee leaders signed by nearly 100 national and statewide organizations and coalitions in support of the legislation’s Housing Credit provisions.
- After TRAFWA passed the House and as it awaited action in the Senate, ACTION helped organize a similar letter to Senate leadership signed by 120 national and statewide organizations and coalitions in support of the tax package.
- ACTION sent a letter to the House Ways and Means Republicans’ Community Development Tax Team urging them to prioritize including the AHCIA in the 2025 tax package.
Housing Credit Support from the Biden-Harris Administration | In 2024, ACTION helped to convince the Biden-Harris Administration to align its Housing Credit agenda with ACTION’s AHCIA priorities.
- On March 11, the Administration released the President’s full FY25 budget request, proposing a $37 billion investment in the Housing Credit over the next 10 years, as outlined by the Treasury’s Green Book, which accompanied the budget proposal. The FY25 budget proposal is the second from the Administration to include ACTION’s production priorities from the AHCIA, including lowering the 50 percent Private Activity Bond (PAB) threshold test to 25 percent, and increasing the 9 Percent Credit allocation for all states.
ACTION Advocacy for Regulatory Updates | ACTION engaged with agency officials to propose potential updates and weigh in on key regulatory changes affecting the Housing Credit program.
- IRS 2024-2025 Priority Guidance Plan. On May 31, ACTION sent a letter to the IRS detailing recommendations to the IRS and Treasury’s 2024-2025 Priority Guidance Plan. The letter called for the IRS to take several actions included in the AHCIA that could be done administratively without legislative change, including implementing Violence Against Women Act protections for Housing Credit tenants, allowing greater flexibility for properties suffering a casualty loss, including relocation expenses in rehabilitation expenditures, and delegating authority to state agencies to prevent planned foreclosures.
ACTION Member Engagement | The ACTION Campaign held regular meetings for members throughout 2024, including monthly updates via videoconference for ACTION grassroots members. The ACTION Steering Committee continued to meet on an as-needed basis, while its two subcommittees, the Legislative Subcommittee and the Data and Research Subcommittee, met regularly. ACTION also published monthly newsletters for members, which can be viewed on our blog.
ACTION Membership Growth | ACTION remains the largest coalition of Housing Credit advocates in the United States, with over 2,400 members. In 2024, ACTION welcomed 36 new members, including four in December:
- Taft-Mills Group, LLC, North Carolina
- Hinds Venture Group, New York
- Latino Connection Foundation, Pennsylvania
- 305 Stitches, Florida
Our grassroots membership is our strength, as it allows us to demonstrate to Members of Congress the widespread and growing support for the Housing Credit across the country. Please help us continue to grow by inviting your affordable housing partners who are not yet members to join ACTION.
In addition, we are working to make sure we have the latest contact information for our members. If you would like to add or change a contact for your organization, please enter that information in this form and we will make sure it is updated for 2025. You can also use the form to share your social media accounts if you would like ACTION to follow and share content from your organization on the Housing Credit.
Thank You!
The ACTION Campaign would like to thank affordable housing advocates across the country – especially our members, partners, and Congressional champions – who joined in our efforts to strengthen and expand the Housing Credit throughout 2024. In 2025, ACTION will continue its work to strengthen and expand the Housing Credit. We look forward to advocating alongside you in the new year.
