The Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024, bipartisan tax legislation containing two top Housing Credit production priorities has remained stalled in the Senate since passing the House by an overwhelming majority in early January. This bipartisan legislation includes major provisions from the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act, which is estimated to create 200,000 additional units of affordable rental housing. The bill would restore the 12.5 percent Housing Credit allocation increase for 2023-2025 and lower the 50 percent bond financing threshold to 30 percent for 2024-2025.
Although the package was brokered by the top two congressional tax writers, Representative Jason Smith, Republican of Missouri and chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, and Senator Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon and chairman of the Finance Committee, Senate Republicans may throw up procedural roadblocks to getting a Senate vote until it receives the official endorsement from Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-ID).
“Efforts to pressure Senate Republicans to rubber stamp the Wyden/Smith tax deal have been counterproductive…. While I remain committed to seeking a bipartisan resolution that a majority of Senate Republicans can support, I hope the bill’s proponents commit to pursuing a more constructive strategy to achieve a mutually agreeable outcome,” Senator Crapo said in a recent statement. If Republicans win the Senate majority in November, Senator Crapo would likely become the chairman of the Finance Committee and ultimately give Republicans more leverage to negotiate a bill next year when President Trump’s 2017 tax law is set to expire.
Last week, Senator Todd Young (R-IN) publicly supported the tax package, saying, “I also want it to be known by my colleagues and by leadership that if [Crapo] falls short in the effort to seek changes, we should still move forward. And I want to offer encouragement to colleagues that might join me in that.” It remains to be seen if other Senate Republicans will also publicly support the bill.
March 22 is the last remaining government funding deadline, and if an agreement is reached, that spending bill could serve as a vehicle for a tax package. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) could still bring the tax bill to the floor as a standalone bill after that funding deadline or attach it to another legislative vehicle separate from the spending bills.