Our country is experiencing a housing affordability crisis. This crisis has been particularly acute in South Carolina, which has some of the highest eviction rates in the country. The coronavirus pandemic exacerbated these challenges. While emergency assistance saved millions from eviction during the pandemic, the underlying problem still remains. Congressman Clyburn has fought to expand access to affordable housing and keep American families in their homes. He introduced the Housing, Opportunity, Mobility, and Equity (HOME) Act, which would provide immediate assistance to rent-burdened individuals with monthly tax credits. It would also push communities to adopt more inclusive zoning laws by making their surface transportation funding and community development block grants contingent on such zoning policies.
Congressman Clyburn also introduced the Restoring Tax Credits for Affordable Housing Act, which increases the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) allocation and improves the credit percentage formula. The bill, if passed, would promote affordable housing by restoring the 235,000 affordable housing units projected to be lost by GOP tax reform over the 10 years following the bill’s introduction in 2018. The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, bolstered the potential effects of the proposed bill by creating a minimum 4 percent interest rate for low-income housing tax credit. Additionally, The Build Back Better, which the House passed in 2021, would provide further support for affordable housing by funding the construction and development of more than 1 million affordable homes.
Moreover, in 2020, he introduced the Legal Assistance to Prevent Evictions Act, which would provide grants to non-profit or governmental entities to provide no-cost legal assistance to low-income and cost-burdened tenants facing eviction. Congress has appropriated $40 million for these grants over the past two years.