The House and Senate tax reform bills that passed each chamber are now moving to conference where differences between them will be worked out. These bills represent a grave threat to housing and community development programs in Philadelphia and across the Commonwealth. While the content of the final legislation is still unknown, elements of the the bills under consideration would:
- Eliminate the 4% Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program which builds or preserves 1,200 – 1,500 units of affordable housing in Pennsylvania, including about 540 in Philadelphia, every single year.
- Reduce affordable housing production under the 9% LIHTC program by 15%.
- Retroactively eliminate tax credit eligibility for some affordable housing developments.
- Jeopardize or eliminate first time homebuyer programs in Pennsylvania that have helped over 160,000 families achieve the dream of homeownership.
- Use these cuts to critical housing programs to provide massive tax breaks to multifamily and commercial real estate through reduced tax rates and preferential treatment of rental income.
- Eliminate the New Markets Tax Credit Program program which has incentivized over $1.5 billion in private investment for economic development projects and created tens of thousands of jobs across Pennsylvania in distressed communities.
- Eliminate or reduce the Historic Tax Credit program which has leveraged $3.2 billion in outside investment and created over 58,000 jobs across the state, while allowing for the preservation of significant buildings and the historic character of our communities.
- Eliminate the Affordable Care Act’s insurance mandate which will cause a 10% increase in insurance premiums and result in 13 million people losing health insurance.
What’s being debated in Congress would be bad for our low-income neighbors, bad for working families, bad for our communities, bad for our city, bad for our region, and bad for our state.
But this fight isn’t over. The final bill will need to pass both the House and the Senate to become law. It’s now more important than ever that you call your Congressperson and and Senators and tell them to vote NO on a tax bill that will devastate critical housing and community development programs to give a tax cut to large corporations and wealthy families at a time of widening inequality and significant need.
Senator Toomey: (610) 434-1444
Senator Casey: (215) 405-9660
Representative Brady (1st District): (215) 389-4627
Representative Evans (2nd District): (215) 276-0340
Representative Boyle (13th District): (215) 335-3355
Representative Costello (6th District): (610) 696-2982
Representative Meehan (7th District): (610) 690-7323
Representative Fitzpatrick (8th District): (215) 579-8102
Representative Barletta (11th District): (570) 751-0050
Representative Dent (15th District): (610) 562-4281
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