On November 28th, a bipartisan group of lawmakers led by Representatives Suzan DelBene (D-WA-01) and Brad Wenstrup (R-OH-02) sent a letter urging House leadership to include key provisions to expand and strengthen the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (Housing Credit) program from the bipartisan Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act (AHCIA) ( H.R.2573 / S.1136) in any year-end legislative vehicle. The letter calls for the enactment of two key AHCIA provisions to preserve and produce more affordable rental housing: 1) reinstating the 12.5% increase to Housing Credit authority that expired at the end of 2021; and 2) lowering the bond financing threshold from 50% to 25%.
Last week, the ACTION Campaign, a coalition co-chaired by Enterprise and the National Council of State Housing Agencies (NCHSA), also sent a letter, signed by over 2,500 businesses, nonprofits and public agencies mirroring the same requests. Enacting these provisions by the end of the year is critical for the production of affordable housing, as Novogradac and Company LLP projects that these two actions would collectively finance an additional 1.93 million affordable rental homes over the next 10 years.