April 07, 2017

"...that concern and regard for the plight of others - is not a partisan feeling."

By Michael Bodaken, President

As the Trump administration and the 115th Congress set their policy agendas, the pressure is on for housing advocates to mobilize bipartisan support to safeguard and expand essential programs and policies. Fortunately, there are signs that legislators are willing to work across the aisle. Senators Maria Cantwell (D-Wash) and Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) have reintroduced housing legislation under the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act of 2017 (S. 548). The bill would expand the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (Housing Credit) by 50 percent and give states more discretion to target such Housing Credits for communities in distress. Its passage would be a significant step in ensuring housing for all by adding nearly 400,000 affordable homes throughout the next decade.

The Cantwell-Hatch bill demonstrates that the affordable housing crisis is a non-partisan issue. The rental market is particularly hostile to low wage earners. According to a report released by Senator Cantwell, "there is no one state in America where a minimum-wage worker working full time can afford a one-bedroom apartment at the fair market rent." The rental market has been under strain for nearly a decade and the problem will only get worse without swift and decisive action.

We urge congress to expand the Housing Credit program because we know that affordable housing opens opportunities for all Americans. Raj Chetty's impressive study on Moving to Opportunity reinforces what housing advocates have known for decades, a housing first approach reduces poverty and increases opportunity for families.

It is bills like the Housing Credit Improvement Act of 2017 that will put pressure on the those who engender the political will to move on these issues. Ending veteran homelessness, establishing permanent housing solutions for impoverished seniors and children, and increasing shelters for women and families in crisis are all issues that receive nearly unanimous public support. Each of these problems have solutions that are rooted in tried and true policies like Housing Credits, housing vouchers, and wealth building initiatives. These programs have not only received bipartisan support in the past, but they have also proven to be successful in both theory and practice.

In a 2009 speech to Congress, President Obama said "That large-heartedness - that concern and regard for the plight of others - is not a partisan feeling. It is not a Republican or a Democratic feeling. [It] is part of the American character." We would do well to remind ourselves and our Congress of America's essential character, and work together to promote equitable solutions for the nearly 12 million Americans overburdened by housing costs.