More Than 2,500 Groups Sign ACTION Letter Pressing for Action on Housing Credit Priorities in Lame Duck Session
Today, more than 2,500 organizations and businesses from every state in the nation joined a letter spearheaded by the ACTION Campaign urging Congress to expand the reach of the Housing Credit during the final weeks of the calendar year. The letter presses Congress to take two critical steps: 1) Expand Housing Credit authority by 50 percent — at a bare minimum reinstate the 12.5 percent cut the Housing Credit suffered in 2022 after a previous cap increase expired at the end of 2021, and 2) enhance the use of Private Activity Bond authority for rental housing production by lowering the bond financing threshold from 50 to 25 percent. The letter was featured today in Politico’s Morning Tax newsletter.
According to an analysis by Novogradac, together, these two actions would finance an additional 1.93 million affordable rental homes over the next 10 years. Both the cap increase and the lower bond financing threshold are components of the bipartisan Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act (AHCIA; S. 1136 / H.R. 2573). The ACTION Campaign supports this legislation in its entirety, but given that end-of-year tax legislation could be limited in scope, the letter focuses on these two proposals because of their impact on increased supply. NCSHA and Enterprise Community Partners co-chair the ACTION Campaign.
The final weeks of each Congress, after the election and before the new Congress takes office — called the “lame duck” session — are often a time when there is a flurry of legislative activity, as Congress tries to tie up loose ends before the end of session. Two years ago, in the lame duck session following the 2020 presidential election, Congress enacted the 4 percent minimum rate for bond-financed Housing Credit developments, disaster Housing Credit authority for 11 states and Puerto Rico, and the first installment of the Emergency Rental Assistance program. NCSHA and our partners are doing everything possible so that this lame duck will be similarly productive.
To become an ACTION Campaign member and join the movement to expand and strengthen the Housing Credit, click here.
