Cantwell Promotes Housing Bill in LIHTC Site Visit

U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell recently visited a site in Vancouver, Wash., to promote the Affordable Credit Improvement Act of 2016. The bill would expand low-income housing tax credits by 50 percent. Tax credits are one of the funding tools—the most effective tool, the Washington Democrat said—used to build new affordable housing.

Cantwell and other affordable housing advocates talked about the bill and county’s broader housing needs at the site in east Vancouver. The site is a Vancouver Housing Authority project completed in 2015 that used $6,493,522 in tax credits. The total cost for the 152-unit complex was $28,958,892.

Seventy-five percent of the units are set aside for people earning 60 percent of the area median income or less, which comes out to $43,980 for a four-person household.

Cantwell visited New York City and plans to stop in other major metropolitan areas. Her next stop will likely be in Portland, where she’ll visit Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., one of the bill’s co-sponsors. The bill is also co-sponsored by Senators Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.