Bennet Joins Colleagues In Introducing Bipartisan LIFELINE Act to Unlock American Rescue Plan Funds for Affordable Housing Development

Press Release

Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet and a group of his colleagues introduced the bipartisan LIHTC Financing Enabling Long-term Investment in Neighborhood Excellence (LIFELINE) Act to improve state and local governments' ability to use Fiscal Recovery Plan Funds for the nation's largest affordable housing funding tool, the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC).

"Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, Colorado families faced high housing costs. Now, the pandemic has only deepened this crisis," said Bennet. "We must ensure our communities have full access to every resource to help address our affordable housing crisis. Our legislation will ensure the state of Colorado and Colorado's local governments can use the funds we secured in the American Rescue Plan, along with other critical housing resources, to boost the supply of affordable housing."

The nation is facing a dire shortage of affordable housing, and the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has only worsened the problem. An estimated 46% of renters in the United States are cost-burdened. Across the country, $8 billion of State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds have been earmarked for housing. Under current law, the use of LIHTC with State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds is counterintuitive. Due to the structure of the tax credit, federal grants used to fill gaps in LIHTC-funded construction are almost always provided as long-term loans. But State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds must be obligated by 2024 and spent by 2026, which prevents them from being effectively used for such loans. The LIFELINE Act would solve this problem by allowing states and localities to loan State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds for LIHTC projects.

In addition to Bennet, this legislation is co-sponsored by U.S. Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Angus King (I-Maine), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Jack Reed (D-R.I), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.).

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