NCSHA Washington Report | April 11, 2025

It’s true: Sometimes you have to see something to believe it.

And few Capitol Hill insiders have ever seen a substantive bill introduced with 118 cosponsors — one quarter of the House, split equally between Republicans and Democrats — before the ink was barely dry on the text.

But that’s what happened Tuesday with the rollout of the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act, the most important legislation pending in Congress for alleviating America’s housing shortage and the housing proposal with the best prospects for being part of the big tax bill this year.

Maybe it shouldn’t have been surprising. The last time the Housing Credit was increased to meet rising needs as significantly as the AHCIA would accomplish, 25 years ago, the underlying bill had more member support than any other measure put forward in the 106th Congress.

Last year, key provisions of the AHCIA were among a handful of tax incentives that passed the House of Representatives, with 78 percent of Republicans and 80 percent of Democrats voting in favor. Support came from every part of the country and political caucus in the chamber.

The lead author of that bill, Ways and Means Committee Chair Jason Smith (R-MO), made sure the Housing Credit was included because he believed what he saw, as he told a home state reporter in January of 2024:

Well, there is no question that America is facing an affordable housing crisis…It is expected just by the provision of this low-income housing tax credit, it will affect, just in our home state, 1,500 additional housing units, 2,300 jobs and $260 million in wages and business income. So it will have a pretty, pretty strong impact just in the state of Missouri.

Smith also would have been aware that a majority of his Republican colleagues on his committee were on record supporting a Housing Credit increase for the same reasons. As were most Ways and Means Democrats.

Smith’s Senate counterpart, Finance Committee Chair Mike Crapo (R-ID), agrees that increasing the credit “could be a phenomenal boost to getting the housing that we need.”

Broad bipartisan and bicameral support in Congress for substantive legislation — no disrespect to post office dedications — is unusual. Overwhelming backing from both sides for a targeted federal incentive that energizes the private sector to help lower-income people is practically unheard of.

The possibility of major tax legislation lubricates the machinery of the Washington advocacy industrial complex like nothing else. The hallways outside the key committee rooms where the 1986 tax reform bill that created the Housing Credit was written were famously dubbed “Gucci Gulch.”

During work on the 2017 tax cuts that are the starting point for this year’s deliberations, something like 7,000 registered lobbyists — 13 for every member of Congress — weighed in on behalf of hundreds of interests. They’re calling this year the “Super Bowl of Tax” so expect even higher totals.

By these standards, the coalition of public officials and housing providers pushing the Housing Credit may seem small. But it’s always punched well above its weight, and there’s more momentum than at any time in memory to get a big win for affordable housing. You can see it.

Stockton Williams | Executive Director

Washington Report will return April 25.

In This Issue

• AHCIA Introduced; More Than One-Quarter of House Already Signed-on as Cosponsors
• Congress Adopts Final FY25 Budget Resolution, Paving Way for Reconciliation Tax Bill
• Neighborhood Homes Investment Act Reintroduced in House
• Flood, Cleaver Launch House HOME, CDBG Reauthorization Drive
• Administration Solicits Deregulation Proposals
• Senate Banking Committee Holds Nomination Hearing on Hughes, Woll
• House Financial Services Oversight Subcommittee Looks at HUD
• Looking Ahead

AHCIA Introduced; More Than One-Quarter of House Already Signed-on as Cosponsors
On Tuesday, Representatives Darin LaHood (R-IL), Suzan DelBene (D-WA), Claudia Tenney (R-NY), Don Beyer (D-VA), Randy Feenstra (R-IA), and Jimmy Panetta (D-CA) reintroduced the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act (AHCIA), H.R. 2725, to expand and strengthen the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, one of NCSHA’s top legislative priorities. More than one-quarter of House members — 118 cosponsors plus the bill’s lead sponsor, Darin LaHood — already have cosponsored the bill. The bill’s original cosponsors — split evenly between Republicans and Democrats — span the ideological spectrum and include 64 percent of the House Ways and Means Committee. Background materials for advocacy are available here and in the ACTION Campaign’s advocacy toolkit. More details can be found in NCSHA’s blog.

Congress Adopts Final FY25 Budget Resolution, Paving Way for Reconciliation Tax Bill
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) had a major legislative win Thursday when the House passed by a 216 – 214 margin the Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Resolution, which the Senate passed the previous weekend. The House voted after Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) publicly committed to aggressive spending cuts, though the budget resolution text only requires Senate committees to find at least $4 billion in savings, and Johnson, in a private meeting, reportedly told his colleagues they could remove him from the Speakership if he doesn’t follow through with at least $1.5 trillion in spending cuts. The next step is for Congress to draft the reconciliation bill itself, which will include major tax cuts, including extension of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), President Trump’s signature tax bill which Congress passed in 2017 during his first administration.

In addition to the discrepancy between required spending cuts for the House and Senate, as NCSHA previously has reported, the budget resolution provides differing instructions to House and Senate tax writers. It instructs the House Ways and Means Committee to advance tax legislation that has a net cost of no more than $4.5 trillion, while instructing the Senate Finance Committee to advance tax legislation that costs no more than $1.5 trillion. However, it allows the Finance Committee not to count the costliest aspect of the expected tax bill — the TCJA extensions — against their $1.5 trillion limit; meaning that, in practice, the Senate has more room for tax cuts than the House. Whether the Senate ultimately is able to use this accounting maneuver — current policy baseline — will depend on whether the Senate Parliamentarian allows its use in the reconciliation bill.

The budget resolution also would facilitate raising the debt ceiling by $4 – $5 trillion using reconciliation. This means Congress must pass the reconciliation bill with the increase in the debt ceiling before the “X-date,” which is the day on which the Treasury Department will exhaust extraordinary measures that have allowed the United States to continue making payments on its debt. The X-date is not certain but is expected to happen in August or September, depending on tax receipts.

Neighborhood Homes Investment Act Reintroduced in House
Representatives Mike Kelly (R-PA) and John Larson (D-CT) yesterday introduced the Neighborhood Homes Investment Act. The legislation, one of NCSHA’s top priorities, seeks to increase the supply of affordable for-sale housing through a new tax credit. The bill establishes the Neighborhood Homes Credit (NHC) to promote new construction or substantial rehabilitation of affordable owner‐occupied housing located in distressed neighborhoods. Modeled after the Housing Credit, the NHC would authorize states to administer the program and direct them to develop allocation plans. With the NHC, project sponsors could claim a credit to cover the difference between the cost to rehabilitate a home in a distressed neighborhood, or build a new home on an empty lot, and the price for which the home is sold. The version of the bill introduced in this Congress includes language sought by NCSHA to give states more flexibility in determining which communities are eligible for NHC credits. Senators Todd Young (R-IN) and Mark Warner (D-VA) are expected to introduce companion legislation soon. For more information, please see NCSHA’s blog.

Flood, Cleaver Launch House HOME, CDBG Reauthorization Drive
This week, Representatives Mike Flood (R-NE) and Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO), the chair and ranking member of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance, announced their plan to work together in a bipartisan effort to reauthorize the HOME Investment Partnerships and Community Development Block Grant programs. As part of this effort, Flood and Cleaver have circulated a request for information with feedback to specific questions requested by April 25. If you have input for NCSHA to consider in our comments, please email Robert Henson by April 21.

Administration Solicits Deregulation Proposals
On Thursday, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), which oversees implementation of executive branch policy across departments, issued a request for information (RFI) soliciting ideas for deregulation. Comments are due to OMB by May 12. To inform NCSHA’s comment letter, please email your proposals to Jennifer Schwartz by May 2.

Senate Banking Committee Holds Nomination Hearing on Hughes, Woll
The Senate Banking Committee yesterday held a hearing to consider the nominations of Andrew Hughes to serve as deputy secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and David Woll to serve as HUD general counsel. The committee also examined the nomination of Michelle Bowman to serve as vice chair for supervision at the Federal Reserve and several other nominees for roles unrelated to housing. In his opening statement, Committee Chair Tim Scott (R-SC) praised Hughes and Woll for their experience and expertise and said both were well suited for their appointed positions. Ranking Member Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) did not focus much on the HUD nominees and expressed concern the committee was considering so many nominees in a single hearing, which she argued prevented committee members from giving each nominee the attention they required. Several committee Democrats raised similar concerns.

While most of the questions were directed to Bowman, Hughes and Woll received some questions from committee Democrats regarding recent Trump Administration efforts to terminate staff at HUD and rescind congressionally approved funding. While avoiding specifics, Hughes and Woll pledged to follow the law while serving at HUD and spoke positively about HUD staff and their commitment to HUD’s mission. Both Hughes and Woll served at HUD during the previous Trump Administration.

House Financial Services Oversight Subcommittee Looks at HUD
The House Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations focused its attention on HUD during a hearing Tuesday. Subcommittee Chair Dan Meuser (R-PA) kicked off the hearing by arguing HUD consistently has misused its funding due to its inability to track and report improper payments, outdated information technology (IT) systems, and minimal oversight of its grantees. These all must be improved, Meuser said, if HUD is to effectively carry out its mission. Ranking Member Al Green (D-TX) agreed it is important to protect against wasteful spending and upgrade HUD’s IT but countered that Congress should be just as concerned about recent Trump Administration efforts to cut HUD staff and rescind HUD program spending without congressional approval. Maxine Waters (D-CA), the ranking member of the full committee, expressed similar sentiments, asking why the committee had not yet invited HUD Secretary Scott Turner to testify.

The sole witness was HUD Acting Inspector General Stephen Begg. His opening statement highlighted areas in which HUD needs to improve to more effectively use its resources: reducing improper payments, managing counterparty risk, detecting and preventing fraud, and improving living conditions in HUD-assisted housing. Begg asserted that updating HUD’s IT systems was critical toward addressing all these areas. Representative Mike Flood (R-NE), the chair of the Housing and Insurance Subcommittee, asked Begg for suggestions for improving the HOME Investment Partnerships Program to support his efforts to reauthorize the program.

Looking Ahead

Legislative and Regulatory Activities

• April 21 | Comments Due to NCSHA | House Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance’s Request for Information: HOME and CDBG Program Reauthorization
• April 25 | Comments Due | House Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance’s Request for Information: HOME and CDBG Program Reauthorization
• May 2 | Comments Due to NCSHA | OMB Request for Information: Deregulation
• May 12 | Comments Due | OMB Request for Information: Deregulation

NCSHA, State HFA, and Industry Events

• April 15 – 16 | Council of Development Finance Agencies: Federal Policy Conference | Washington, DC
  Garth Rieman will speak at this event.
• April 22 – 24 | Affordable Housing Investors Council Spring Meeting | Pittsburgh, PA
  Jennifer Schwartz will speak at this event.
• April 23 – 24, 1:00 – 4:30 pm ET | NCSHA Virtual Event: Housing Credit 101: Development
• April 28 – 30 | Nebraska Investment Finance Authority 2025 Innovation Expo | Lincoln, NE
  Jennifer Schwartz will speak at this event.
• May 1 | Minnesota Affordable Housing Summit | Minneapolis, MN?
  Stockton Williams will speak at this event.
• May 4 – 7 | 2025 Women’s Affordable Housing Network Summit | Denver, CO
  Jennifer Schwartz will speak at this event.
• May 8 – 9 | Novogradac 2025 Affordable Housing Conference | San Francisco, CA
  Jennifer Schwartz will speak at this event.
• May 12 – 15 | NALHFA Annual Conference | Minneapolis, MN
  Robert Henson will speak at this event.
• May 13 – 14 | Michigan State Housing Conference | Lansing, MI
  Jennifer Schwartz will speak at this event.
• May 15 | American Institute of Servicing and Legal Executives Institute Meeting | Washington, DC
  Garth Rieman will speak at this event.