News

Washington, D.C.. — Today, U.S. Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL), Todd Young (R-IN), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Angus King (I-ME), Dean Heller (R-NV), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Doug Jones (D-AL), Cory Gardner (R-CO), and Chris Coons (D-DE) introduced the Task Force on the Impact of the Affordable Housing Crisis Act, which seeks to better understand and respond to America’s affordable housing crisis by creating a bipartisan affordable housing task force.
 
For millions of Americans, a lack of affordable housing has negative, profound, and lasting consequences. Research shows that an inability to access safe and affordable homes jeopardizes educational performance and economic mobility, and leaves families with fewer dollars to spend on health care, groceries, and other important expenses – further ingraining families in the cycle of poverty. In order to solve the housing crisis, we need a better understanding of its impact on other government programs and areas of life. The affordable housing task force will evaluate and quantify the impact of housing costs on other government programs and provide recommendations to Congress on how increase affordable housing options in order to improve the effectiveness of other federal programs.
 
“It is imperative that Congress address the affordable housing crisis that is hurting families across the country,” Rubio said. “This bill would help do that by establishing a bipartisan task force that will help make upward mobility more attainable for working class families in the 21st century. I am proud to support this bipartisan legislation so that more of America’s children and families will have a chance to realize their potential.”
 
“As I travel throughout Indiana, I consistently hear about the need for more affordable housing,” Young said. “It’s clear that we need a better understanding of this crisis in order to make the policy changes necessary to help families succeed. Our bill would bring together a group of experts to evaluate the affordable housing crisis and identify solutions to help lift up millions of struggling individuals.”
 
“This year we were able to boost the Low Income Housing Tax Credit, which has built 90 percent of affordable housing in our country,” said Cantwell. “More needs to be done to get to the root causes of the affordable housing crisis and show that the LIHTC is cost-effective and creates jobs.”
 
The task force would:

1. Evaluate and quantify the impact that a lack of affordable housing has on other areas of life and life outcomes for individuals living in the United States, including education, employment, income level, health, nutrition, access to transportation, and poverty level in the neighborhood in which individuals live.
2. Evaluate and quantify the costs incurred by other federal, state, and local programs due to a lack of affordable housing.
3. Make recommendations to Congress on how to use affordable housing to improve the effectiveness of other Federal programs and improve life outcomes for individuals living in the United States.