The House of Representatives is scheduled to vote this week on H.R. 2, the Moving Forward Act, a $1.5 trillion infrastructure bill which provides increased investments for roads, bridges, schools, transit systems, housing, clean energy, broadband and more. House Democratic leaders introduced the bill last week.
The Moving Forward Act includes an expansion of the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC), a long-standing legislative priority of NLBMDA. Specifically, the legislation incorporates provisions from the
Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act
.
NLBMDA has been working diligently with its coalition partners to garner bipartisan support for the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act in Congress and is pleased the bill will receive a vote on the House floor as part of the Infrastructure package. NLBMDA recently sent a
letter
to Congress encouraging them to include the expansion of the LIHTC in future stimulus legislation. To date, the bill has a total of
220 cosponsors
(145 Democrats and 75 Republicans), which equates to over 50% support in the House of Representatives.
While the House is expected to pass the bill, it is unlikely to receive consideration in the Senate as currently written. Republicans have expressed concerns with provisions in the bill which would require states to account for climate change before undertaking projects and require states to meet certain greenhouse gas emission goals when they receive funding
.
Summary of H.R. 2, the Moving Forward Act:
- Includes increased funding for infrastructure investments:
- $319 billion for roads and bridges;
- $130 billion for school improvements;
- $30 billion to upgrade hospitals;
- $100 billion for affordable housing infrastructure.
- Expands the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC).
- Leverages a 5-year, $10 billion federal investment in addressing structural challenges and upgrading child care facilities.
- Provides financing support for state and local government investments and spurring private investment through the tax code by permanently reinstating Build America Bonds and Advance Refunding Bonds, and increasing and expanding the issuance of Private Activity Bonds.
- Encourages the rehabilitation of historic buildings by temporarily increasing the Historic Tax Credit program for all projects, permanently expanding the credit for small projects, and eliminating rules that prevent access for non-profits, including public schools.
- Establishes a new Neighborhood Investment tax credit that would subsidize certain development costs to encourage the rehabilitation of vacant homes or construction of new homes in distressed areas.
A full summary of provisions in the Moving Forward Act can be found
here
, a brief fact sheet
here
and the bill text
here
. NLBMDA will continue to provide updates to members as they become available.
