AHCIA Legislation Gains Support from Over One-third of Congress

The bipartisan legislation, the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act of 2023, has received the support of over one-third of the U.S. House of Representatives. This legislation would support the construction of nearly two million new affordable homes over the next decade.

This month, the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act of 2023 reached 170 cosponsors in the House, maintaining strong bipartisan support with 85 Republicans and 85 Democrats. The Senate companion legislation has reached 28 cosponsors, with 14 Republicans and 14 Democrats.

To date, seven Congressional legislators from Texas have cosponsored the bill; Rep. Beth Van Duyne (R-TX-24), Rep. Monica De La Cruz (R-TX-15), Rep. Tony Gonzalez (R-TX-23), Rep. Greg Casar (D-TX-35), Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX-17), Lance Gooden (R-TX-5), and Roger Williams (R-TX-25).

The AHCIA remains a top priority for TAAHP, and its Federal Legislative Advocacy Group (FLAG) continues to build co-sponsorship for the legislation. Our goal is for all our Congressional leaders to recognize the strong support for the AHCIA by passing it this year.

The bill would support the financing of nearly 2 million new affordable homes by:

Increasing the amount of credits allocated to each state. The legislation would increase the number of credits available to states by 50 percent for the next two years and make the temporary 12.5 percent increase secured in 2018 permanent—which has already helped build more than 59,000 additional affordable housing units nationwide.
Increasing the number of affordable housing projects that can be built using private activity bonds. This provision would stabilize financing for workforce housing projects built using private activity bonds by decreasing the amount of private activity bonds needed to secure Housing Credit funding. As a result, projects would have to carry less debt, and more projects would be eligible to receive funding.
Improving the Housing Credit program to better serve at-risk and underserved communities. The legislation would also make improvements to the program to better serve veterans, victims of domestic violence, formerly homeless students, Native American communities, and rural Americans.

For more information on the bill, please see the following resources from the ACTION Campaign.