‘an important acknowledgement that housing is infrastructure just like roads, bridges and public transit systems’
WASHINGTON – The National Housing Conference (NHC) strongly supports passage of H.R. 2, the Moving Forward Act, which House Democratic leadership outlined in text released this week. The bill provides important measures that will facilitate the production of affordable housing across the country, including $100 billion in new funding for affordable housing, a new tax credit for investment in lower cost homes, and an increase in the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) allocation by more than 60%.
“The Moving Forward Act is an important acknowledgement that housing is infrastructure just like roads, bridges and public transit systems,” said NHC President and CEO David M. Dworkin. “With millions of Americans facing unprecedented unemployment and housing insecurity as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, any attempt to address America’s crumbling infrastructure must include measures to build and preserve high-quality affordable housing.”
The $100 billion appropriation to create or preserve 1.8 million affordable homes included in the bill helps address enormous gap between supply and demand for affordable housing. The Neighborhood Homes Investment Act tax credit would provide vital support to homeownership in areas of the country that have been passed over by economic opportunity and have faced particular hardship in the current crisis.
Provisions to strengthen LIHTC provide a significant boost to one of the most important tools we have to provide affordable rental housing to those who need it most. The bill would incentivize developments for extremely low-income tenants and developments in rural and Native American areas, all of which have been hit hard by the pandemic.
The Moving Forward Act also includes a $100 billion investment in broadband infrastructure for underserved rural, suburban and urban communities. Expanding access to broadband has long been an NHC priority, and is more important than ever now with school, work, and many essential transactions and communications moving online.
NHC strongly urges the House and Senate to promptly pass the Moving Forward Act to help ensure that the housing sector can play its historic role in leading the country out of recession. Along with the $100 billion for rental assistance included in the HEROES Act, these two bills will make an enormous difference at a critical time for the most vulnerable Americans.
The National Housing Conference has been defending our American Home since 1931. #OurAmericanHome @natlhousingconf @davidmdworkin
About NHC: The National Housing Conference has been defending the American Home since 1931. Everyone in America should have equal opportunity to live in a quality, affordable home in a thriving community. NHC convenes and collaborates with our diverse membership and the broader housing and community development sectors to advance our policy, research and communications initiatives to effect positive change at the federal, state and local levels. Politically diverse and nonpartisan, NHC is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization.
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