The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (Housing Credit) was signed into law by President Reagan in the Tax Reform Act of 1986. It was first expanded and made permanent under President Clinton in 1993, and further strengthened under President Bush and President Obama, reflecting its strong bipartisan support. Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT) introduced the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act of 2017 to expand the Housing Credit by 50 percent and enact other provisions to further strengthen the Housing Credit. The bipartisan bill was reintroduced in the 116th Congress as the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act of 2019 (S.1703, H.R.3077), in the 117th Congress as the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act of 2021 (S. 1136, H.R. 2573), and in the 118th Congress as the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act of 2023 (S. 1557, H.R. 3238).

Since 1986, the Housing Credit has financed the development of over 3.7 million apartments, providing affordable homes to more than 8 million low-income families. The development of these apartments has supported 6.08 million jobs for one year and has generated $688.5 billion in wages and business income and $239 billion in federal, state, and local tax revenues. See the impact of the Housing Credit across the country as well as in every state and congressional district.