Separate Op-Eds Emphasize LIHTC Benefits, Urge Support for Affordable Housing Legislation

In an op-ed recently published by The Philadelphia Inquirer, Phyllis Chamberlain, the executive director of the Housing Alliance of Pennsylvania, wrote about the impact of the LIHTC program nationally and in Pennsylvania. According to Chamberlain, each year, the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency (PHFA) distributes nearly $30 million in LIHTCs. As a result, the tax credits have consistently led to almost $300 million of new investment in housing, enabling developers to create or rehabilitate more than 84,000 affordable places to live for more than 200,000 Pennsylvanians.

Chamberlain urges members of Congress to support the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act of 2017 (S. 548), which would strengthen and expand the Housing Credit program. She sees the bill as a “true sign of hope.” By its passage, it will serve as “proof that our legislators can rise above politics and work together for the benefit of our communities; it will also help thousands of Pennsylvanians have a safe, decent, and affordable place to call home.”

In a separate op-ed recently published in the Louisville Courier-Journal, Cathe Dykstra, chief possibility officer, president, and CEO of Family Scholar House, also discussed the importance of the LIHTC program. She wrote that the LIHTC finances nearly all new affordable housing in the U.S., including over 34,000 affordable homes in Kentucky. In addition, over the past 30 years, the LIHTC program has supported 38,000 jobs in the state and generated $3.66 billion in local income. The program has helped the Family Scholar House open four campuses in Louisville, which provide single parents with homes they can afford while supporting their educational goals and career preparation. A fifth campus will open in December.

She concludes with support for the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act. “By expanding and strengthening the Housing Credit, we can provide critically needed homes, improving the economy, quality of life and breadth of opportunities for communities in Kentucky and across the country,” states Dykstra.