NCSHA Washington Report | March 11, 2022
In passing a bill to fund the federal government’s current fiscal year five months late, Congress this week also reauthorized an essential law for the first time in almost a decade: the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA).
On the books since 1994, VAWA authorizes a variety of federal grants mainly to address domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking. The new reauthorization, written by Senators Murkowski (R-AK), Feinstein (D-CA), Ernst (R-IA), and Durbin (D-IL), will expand existing resources “to include more victims in marginalized and rural communities and for prevention programs on college campuses.”
The previous VAWA revision extended its protections specifically to women living in Housing Credit properties. But Congress still needs to revise the Housing Credit statute to fulfill the full intent. A provision to do that is included in the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act, one of NCSHA’s top priorities.
It might sound trite to say affordable housing is women’s housing, but there’s a lot of truth to it. Three-quarters of households served by HUD rental assistance programs are headed by women, according to the department.
Even so, higher shares of women than men face unsustainable rent burdens, according to Zillow. And many of the most vulnerable are in high-risk housing situations as well. Early work by Matthew Desmond in Milwaukee (the setting of his Pulitzer Prize-winning 2016 book, Evicted) found:
“Low-income women are evicted at much higher rates than men. The reasons are varied, including lower wages and children, but one rarely discussed reason is the gender dynamics between largely male landlords and female tenants.”
According to the National Center to End Domestic Violence, “lack of safe and affordable housing is often reported as one of the primary barriers survivors of domestic violence face when they choose to leave an abusive partner.” An Abt Associates report for HUD suggests parents who receive a housing voucher are one-third less likely to experience domestic violence.
More broadly, adult women given vouchers had a lower prevalence of extreme obesity and diabetes after 10 to 16 years compared to those not given vouchers, according to one study. And, for reasons still unclear to researchers, the benefits of housing mobility assistance seem to be greater, in terms of health and behavior, and longer lasting too, for girls than for boys.
In terms of homeownership, Urban Institute researchers last year reported “notable gains” by women over the prior 30 years, even as the homeownership rate among male-headed households fell. They and other analysts worry though that the pandemic “may have pushed women backward in housing and employment by impacting their participation in the workforce and their potential earnings well into the future.”
In any event, there remains “a large gender gap in the returns to housing investment in recent decades in the US,” exacerbated by mortgage borrowing, according to a paper published by the Yale School of Management.
It isn’t trite at all to say affordable housing needs are women’s needs.
Stockton Williams | Executive Director
Washington Report will return on March 25.
State HFA Emergency Housing Assistance
In This Issue
- House and Senate Pass FY 2022 Spending Bill
- The American Rescue Plan Act Turns One
- House Financial Services Committee Hearing on Inflation Includes Housing Discussion
- USDA Announces New Section 538 Program Fees
- NCSHA in the News
- Looking Ahead
House and Senate Pass FY 2022 Spending Bill
Late Thursday, the Senate passed an omnibus Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 appropriations bill (H.R. 2471) the House of Representatives had approved the night before, providing funding for HUD and USDA rural housing programs. In total, the bill provides $65.7 billion for HUD programs and activities, an increase of $5.3 billion from FY 2021, including $1.5 billion for the HOME Investment Partnerships program, the highest level of funding HOME has received in more than a decade. Also incorporated into the package is the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2022 (VAWA), which reauthorizes VAWA federal grant programs through 2026 and modernizes the law. We expect President Biden to sign H.R. 2471 into law today before the current continuing resolution keeping the government running through March 11 expires. For more information, see NCSHA’s blog and budget chart.
Unfortunately, the bill does not include language NCSHA supported that would have allowed the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund, authorized in the American Rescue Plan Act last year, to be used to provide long-term loans to Housing Credit developments. NCSHA is continuing to pursue other avenues for optimizing recovery funds and Housing Credit financing.
The American Rescue Plan Act Turns One
Today marks the one-year anniversary of the enactment of the American Rescue Plan Act, which authorized the second infusion of resources into the Emergency Rental Assistance program (initially authorized and funded under the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021) and established the Homeowner Assistance Fund, the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund, and the HOME-ARP program for housing and services assistance to households experiencing or at risk of homelessness. In celebration of the law’s anniversary, Treasury and HUD released fact sheets on the impact the law has had, including a focus on its affordable housing programs. For more information, see NCSHA’s blog.
House Financial Services Committee Hearing on Inflation Includes Housing Discussion
On March 8, the House Financial Services Committee held a hearing on The Inflation Equation: Corporate Profiteering, Supply Chain Bottlenecks, and COVID-19. Democrats used the hearing to explore the role of alleged corporate profiteering on areas such as oil prices, supply chains, and housing inflation. Republicans, meanwhile, said the American Rescue Plan (ARP) and increased federal spending caused inflation.
Witness Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, was asked to comment about the money in ARP that’s gone to state and local governments to facilitate the direction of housing funding. Zandi said Low Income Housing Tax Credits are an effective way to increase the supply of affordable rental housing in communities across the country. He described the Housing Credit as a “tried and true program…all we have to do is turn the dials on it and we can really juice that up and get a lot more supply into the housing market.” Zandi also said individual and institutional investors made up a quarter of home sales at the end of 2021.
USDA Announces New Section 538 Program Fees
Last week, USDA’s Rural Housing Service published a new fee structure for the Section 538 Guaranteed Rural Rental Housing Program, reducing initial and annual guarantee fees for new loans. Section 538 new construction and substantial rehabilitation loans for green or energy-efficient housing, workforce housing (i.e., with rents between 80 and 115 percent of area median income), or preservation of existing USDA properties are eligible for a larger fee reduction. The new fee structure will take effect on April 4. Projects with a fully-executed conditional commitment as of March 3, 2022, and loans obligated prior to October 1, 2021, are ineligible for the reduced fees.
NCSHA in the News
CNBC, 3.4.22, Struggling homeowners can get between $15,000 and $80,000 from pot of federal money
Nasdaq, 3.6.22, Struggling Homeowners Could Now Get Up to $80,000 in Stimulus Aid
The Santa Clarita Valley Proclaimer, 3.6.22, Federal Stimulus Aid Is Still Available to Struggling US Homeowners
Boston Real Estate Times, 3.9.22, Boston Real Estate Times Announces Outstanding Women of 2022, to Honor Them on April 14
Mundo Hispanico, 3.10.22, US states pay up to $80,000 stimulus checks for homeowners
Legislative and Regulatory Activities
- March 11 | Comments Due | FHFA Proposed Strategic Plan for 2022–26
NCSHA, State HFA, and Industry Events
- March 14 – 16 | NCSHA’s 2022 Legislative Conference | Washington, DC
- March 16 | National Housing and Rehabilitation Association Webinar: Managing Construction Costs in 2022
Jim Tassos will speak at this event. - March 22 | Wells Fargo Focus on Home Series: Maintaining Homeownership – COVID-19, Where Are We Now? | Webinar
Greg Zagorski will speak at this event. - March 24 | National Housing Resource Center Webinar: The Homeowner Assistance Fund
Greg Zagorski will speak at this event. - March 24 – 25 | IPED Learn the Basics: Housing Tax Credits 101 | Boston, MA
Jennifer Schwartz will speak at this event. - March 29 – 30 | Nebraska Investment Finance Authority 2022 Housing Innovation Marketplace | La Vista, NE
Jim Tassos will speak at this event. - March 30 | National Housing Conference: Solutions for Affordable Housing Communications Convening | Washington, DC
Jennifer Schwartz will speak at this event. - March 31 | ABA Forum on Affordable Housing and Community Development Law: American Rescue Plan Act Programs | Webinar
Jennifer Schwartz will speak at this event. - May 11 – 12 | Outside the Box: 2022 PHFA Housing Forum | Harrisburg, PA
Jennifer Schwartz will speak at this event. - June 8 – 9 | CAHEC Partners Conference | Greensboro, NC
Stockton Williams will speak at this event.
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