COVID Policy & AdvocacyUpdated April 1, 2021 Go directly to: Biden Requests $213B for Affordable Housing in American Jobs Plan On March 31, President Biden announced his priorities for the American Jobs Plan, a $2.25 trillion infrastructure and recovery package. The president's plan would invest $213 billion “to produce, preserve, and retrofit more than two million affordable and sustainable places to live.”
NACEDA applauds President Biden for including the Neighborhood Homes Investment Act (NHIA) in the plan. NHIA creates a tax credit to encourage private investment in single-family construction, rehabilitation, and repair in disinvested neighborhoods to stabilize neighborhoods and increase homeownership opportunities. NACEDA has been advocating for this legislation through The Neighborhood Homes Coalition. Regarding NHIA, the fact sheet states: "President Biden calls on Congress to pass the innovative, bipartisan Neighborhood Homes Investment Act (NHIA). Offering $20 billion worth of NHIA tax credits over the next five years will result in approximately 500,000 homes built or rehabilitated, creating a pathway for more families to buy a home and start building wealth." Congress Passed COVID Relief Bill On March 11, President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act into law. This sweeping legislation is expected to lift 13 million people out of poverty, including 5.7 million children. These are some of the provisions of interest to community developers:
For more details on the housing and homelessness provisions in the relief bill, see NLIHC’s factsheet. Biden Administration Extends Eviction and Foreclosure Moratoriums On his first day in office, President Biden signed an executive order directing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to extend the federal eviction moratorium. It also directed federal agencies to extend their COVID-related evictions and foreclosure moratoriums. Federal agencies took these actions:
Treasury Launches $25 Billion Emergency Rental Assistance Program The $25 billion Emergency Rental Assistance Program was created by the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021. Access the web portal and FAQs, which were updated on February 22. Of the total $25 billion Treasury will have access to, $23.875 billion will be dispersed to states and local governments. The minimum amount a state (including the District of Columbia) can receive is $200 million. Allocations to eligible local governments (those with populations of 200,000 or more) will come from that state’s share, capped at 45 percent of the total state allocation. In order to be eligible for assistance, recipients must be renter households earning less than 80 percent of area median income who are either at risk of homelessness or housing instability or have qualified for unemployment insurance, experienced a reduction in income, incurred significant costs, or experienced hardship due to the pandemic. At least 90 percent of allotted funds must be used for the payment of rent and utilities and rent and utility arrears, and the remaining ten percent may be used for housing stability services, including case management, administrative costs, and other services to maintain housing stability.
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