During a stop this month in southwest Portland, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) touted his plan to increase the stock of affordable housing and expand the affordable-housing tax credit.
Wyden introduced the Expanded Affordable Housing Tax Credit, which would expand and strengthen the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, this summer with support from colleagues on both sides of the aisle.
At a press conference Nov. 8, Wyden said one of his top priorities is to add the bill to the Senate’s end-of-year budget package, which is under his jurisdiction as the ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee.
“This may well be the best opportunity for significant action on housing until after the 2020 election. And we all understand what the need is. We’ve got 150,000 households in Oregon paying more than half of their monthly take-home pay for rent,” Wyden said.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development’s threshold for affordability in housing is 30% of household income. In other words, it considers households paying more than 30% of their income on housing costs to be “cost burdened.” Households spending half or more of their monthly income on housing are considered “severely cost burdened” under HUD definitions.
Speaking to a small crowd of reporters and community members at a South Waterfront apartment complex, Wyden stressed the need to expand affordable-housing options for veterans and other vulnerable groups.
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“In a sentence, our housing policy needs a major remodel — and the fact is when you have so many veterans falling between the cracks, when you have young people who are working hard and playing by the rules having trouble paying for rent, let alone getting on the path to be a first-time homebuyer, you know that you’ve got a prescription for trouble.”
The bill would expand the existing Affordable Housing Credit, a tax break for developers for investing in building housing for extremely low-income households and housing on tribal lands and in underserved communities.
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According to information released by Wyden’s team this summer, the bill would expand the number of affordable-housing units produced over the next decade by 550,000 units — to 1.9 million units total.
It would increase the number of credits allocated to each state by 50% over current levels and stabilize the value of the 4% Affordable Housing Tax Credit, which is used for new construction of affordable-housing units. It would also allow states to recycle multifamily housing bonds for affordable housing; boost affordable housing in Indian Country and in rural communities; increase by 50% the number of credits available to extremely low-income populations or populations with special needs, such as veterans, victims of domestic violence and low-income, non-traditional college students; and create veteran-specific housing options.
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Wyden also said he would like to see more wraparound services included in affordable-housing complexes to provide support and community for individuals transitioning out of homelessness.
Following the press conference, Wyden and his team toured Gray’s Landing, one of the first affordable-housing developments in the South Waterfront district. The building targets veterans and families making up to 60% of median family income.
Susan Dooley, an Air Force veteran who spoke at the press conference, told reporters she was worried she would end up living on the street when Portland’s rental market tightened but found out about a program for female veterans through Transition Projects that helped her find housing.
“I have no idea where I’d be without it,” she said.
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