By Kylie Marsh
Kylie.marsh@triangletribune.com
RALEIGH – Sarah Brundage, president and CEO of the National Association of Affordable Housing Lenders, is optimistic about the Neighborhood Homes Investment Act.
Brundage and Stephanie Watkins-Cruz, housing policy director of the North Carolina Housing Coalition, discussed the benefits of the policy with attendees at the North Carolina Affordable Housing Conference in Raleigh.
“Our consistent strategy…is that we are elevating housing as a nonpartisan priority with bipartisan champions,” Brundage said. “That strategy is really necessary to keep advancing solutions regardless of the volatility that’s happening in Washington.”
The NHIA seeks to provide federal income tax credits for building and rehabilitation of affordable housing in rural, tribal, urban and suburban areas across the nation. The legislation is also supported by the Neighborhood Homes Coalition, comprised of community development nonprofits and financial institutions.
The bill was introduced in April by Representative Mike Kelly (R-Pa.) with 56 cosponsors: 36 Democrats and 20 Republicans. Rep. Donald G. Davis (D–N.C.) is the only cosponsor from North Carolina. After its introduction, the bill was referred to the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Tax, where Kelly is the chair.
The housing squeeze in North Carolina is no surprise. Hundreds of people move to the state daily. In its Housing Supply Analysis and Economic Impact Report, the North Carolina Chamber of Commerce estimates that the state faces a housing inventory gap of five years. In addition, Hurricane Helene last year severely impacted housing supply.
Watkins-Cruz said engagement from state officials has been consistent, and it’s crucial for the public to do the same. “As constituents, engaging with your representatives and helping educate each other around this issue is important, because there’s a lot of misinformation,” she said. “As more people move to North Carolina; as more people are trying to live and work in North Carolina, there’s this mismatch happening between the interest and conversations and the level of investment.”
Last month, the Renewing Opportunity in the American Dream to Housing Act, introduced by South Carolina Senator Tim Scott (R-S.C.), passed the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs. Reaching across the aisle, Scott worked with Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren to boost housing supply and increase its affordability by addressing multiple programs through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
“I really cannot underscore how big of a deal this is,” Brundage said. The bill has the potential to advance to law as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2025, a defense bill that gets renewed every year.
“It’s one of the few annual bills that always goes through Congress because it’s the defense bill,” Brundage said. “This package does not solve everything, but, again, it’s a huge commitment.”
Although President Trump’s proposed cuts to funding “would have been devastating” to HUD, Brundage said lawmakers proposed funding levels to federal housing programs that “basically ignored what the president said,” thanks to engagement from constituents.
Despite a government shutdown, Brundage said there are contingency plans in place to continue federal programs in the meantime. What is more devastating, she explained, are cuts to federal agencies in many departments, which push more responsibility of community housing support onto nonprofits.
