On February 1, 2024, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 7024, The Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024 which includes two Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) provisions that were also included in the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act (H.R. 3238/S. 1557). According to Novogradac, the provisions which would restore the 12.5 percent allocation for 2023-2025 and lower the 50 percent bond financial threshold to 30 percent for 2024-2025, would finance more than 200,000 additional affordable homes.
The bill still needs to be considered by the Senate, which faces several challenges, including a busy legislative agenda for February. Members of the Senate have also floated the idea of scheduling a potential markup of the bill which could potentially amend the legislation and further delay any vote to bring the bill on the Senate floor. The Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act may also be the last opportunity for Congress to pass any tax related provisions until 2025.
The ACTION Campaign, where CLPHA is a Steering Committee member, has prepared background and advocacy materials about the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024.
ACTION:
We strongly ask that CLPHA members reach out to your Senators and urge them to pass H.R. 7024, the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024.
When asking your Member of Congress to support H.R. 7024, mention the importance and share your support for the two LIHTC related provisions in the bill and ask that the housing provisions are retained in the Senate:
Restore the 12.5 percent allocation increase for 2023 – 2025. This allocation increase was initially enacted in 2018 but expired in 2021.
Lower the 50 percent bond financing threshold to 30 percent for Private Activity Bond (PAB) allocations made in 2024 – 2025.
For questions or additional information, contact Gerard Holder, CLPHA Legislative Director at gholder@clpha.org. or Cynthia Cuestas, CLPHA Legislative Assistant, at ccuestas@clpha.org.
Congress Needs To Increase Public And Affordable Housing Funding
Background:
The federal government is currently funded under a continuing resolution (CR) that expires December 16 this year. If the government does not take additional action it runs out of money and has to shut down. Given the uncertainty of what will happen in the appropriations process during the next Congress beginning in January, it is critical that the current Congress finish the work already begun and pass a full year FY23 appropriations bill. CLPHA is particularly concerned with the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD) proposed legislation currently in final negotiations between the House and Senate.
CLPHA and industry partners recently sent a letter and revised joint appropriations request to the leadership of the House and Senate appropriations committees asking for specific funding levels and authorizing language be included in the final THUD appropriations bill. Among our requests, we ask Congress to increase funding for the HUD defined shortfalls in the public housing operating fund program to $345 million to accommodate all eligible housing authorities. We ask the committees to accept the Senate-proposed level of $364 million in set-aside funding for tenant protection vouchers (TPVs) since HUD recently indicated that the current demand for TPVs has exceeded its initial projections for FY23 and they again anticipate not being able to fund replacement TPVs for vacant units in calendar year 2023 without additional funding. We also ask that HUD be directed to determine the impact of recent changes to the calculation of FY23 Fair Market Rents (FMRs), because of the recent extension of regulatory waivers increasing payment standards up to 120 percent of the FMR in local housing markets affecting the need for additional housing assistance payments (HAP) set-aside funding.
ACTION:
CLPHA is calling on members to:
1) Ask your Members of Congress to support the recommendations included in the public housing industry joint funding request and joint industry letter.
2) Ask your Members of Congress to support the THUD funding bill.
3) Ask your Members of Congress to support final passage of a full-year FY23 appropriations bill.
For questions or additional information, contact Gerard Holder, CLPHA Legislative Director at gholder@clpha.org.
CLPHA and our industry partners today sent aletter (and attachments Exhibit 1 andExhibit 2) to House and Senate Appropriations Committee members asking to include legislative language that prevents HUD from implementing unilateral changes to the ACC in the forthcoming FY23 appropriations bill. This joint industry request was made by CLPHA, the MTW Collaborative, the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO) and the Public Housing Authorities Directors Association (PHADA).
CLPHA and our industry partners remain concerned that HUD’s continued attempts to revise the ACC will circumvent the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), unilaterally change the contractual relationship between HUD and public housing agencies (PHAs), and strip PHAs of their ability to challenge HUD’s breach of contract actions, which PHAs have recently successfully litigated. Without the inclusion of the legislative language mentioned in our letter, we are concerned that HUD’s ability to make problematic changes to the ACC has been renewed.
This week the full House passed six appropriations bills including its version of the FY23 HUD bill. Since the Senate has not yet taken action on their bill version, we hope to have the ACC language included in the Senate bill, and we are seeking eventual conference committee action between the House and Senate to include the ACC language and committee report language.
ACTION:
We are asking housing authorities to sign and send a similar letter asking their representatives in both the House and Senate to reinstate the legislative language regarding the ACC in the General Provisions section of the FY23 HUD appropriations legislation.
You can also click here to watch a webinar site tour that shows CLPHA members how to create website accounts for themselves and provides an overview of the site's functionality.
