07.01.21

Cantwell, Housing Advocates, Local Officials in Spokane Push to Include Affordable Housing in Infrastructure Package

The Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act of 2021 would help produce more than 66,000 units of affordable housing around Washington state.

SPOKANE, WA – Today, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), held a press event with local officials and housing advocates at the Gonzaga Family Haven Project in Spokane. At today’s event, Senator Cantwell advocated for increased federal support through the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program to be included as part of any Infrastructure Package passed by Congress to address the housing affordability crisis and better serve at-risk and low-income communities.

“Here in Spokane, we want to say that projects like the Gonzaga Family Haven prove to us that affordable housing should be part of critical infrastructure discussions that are going on in Congress today. When we return in about a week and a half, we will be there to talk about the infrastructure needs of the nation, about roads, about bridges, about broadband, and we certainly want to be talking about affordable housing,” said Senator Cantwell.

In recent years, Washington state has experienced a severe housing affordability crisis. Between 2006 and 2015, the median income in the state increased three percent, but the median rent increased by 18%. Nearly 230,000 Washington households pay more than half of their monthly income on rent. Among extremely low-income renters in the state, 68% pay more half or more of their monthly income on rent.

These trends have been further exacerbated by COVID-19, as supply chain disruptions and labor shortages have driven prices up in the Spokane housing market.

At the event, Senator Cantwell joined Spokane City Council President, Breean Beggs; Senior Director of Gonzaga University Community Engagement, Molly Ayers; Vice President of Catholic Charities, Jonathan Mallahan; Executive Director of Washington State Housing Finance Commission, Steve Walker; Executive Director for the Salish Language School, LaRae Wiley; and Catholic Charities Rising Strong Program Participants, and perspective future residents of Gonzaga Family Haven, Jeff and Jerrica Ford.

At the event, Jeff and Jerrica Ford, who are participants in the Catholic Charities Rising Strong Housing Program and have applied to become residents at Gonzaga Family Haven, spoke on the importance of affordable housing opportunities.

“Our family was separated and we had no clue where to go. We were hopeless, living on the street for too long. And Rising Strong came and put our family back together, gave us hope, showed us how to live, inspired us, very much. It’s because of them, we’re in college now, [Jerrica has] a job now, we’re aspiring to do better, and be better, and that’s all because of Catholic Charities and Rising Strong. Thank you,” said Jeff Ford.

“This is so important to have affordable housing that is there for families. That’s kind of the whole focus here. These affordable housing projects are unique in every part of the United States. What’s unique here is that this group of people came together and said, ‘We want to build affordable housing that keeps families together,” said Senator Cantwell.

After the press conference, Senator Cantwell joined Jeff and Jerrica Ford for a tour of the site which highlighted the planned living spaces, community room, resources available to residents, and onsite preschool. 

Senator Cantwell has been a longtime champion of the need for more affordable housing. In April, Cantwell introduced the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act of 2021 that would help produce more units of affordable housing though the LIHTC program. The Affordable Housing Tax Credit would result in over two million additional affordable housing units over the next decade – including 66,000 in Washington state – and create nearly three million jobs.

In June 2020, Cantwell co-sponsored the Emergency Affordable Housing Act that would preserve and expand affordable housing amid the COVID-19 pandemic and economic crisis and build more than 500,000 new affordable housing units. In 2018, Cantwell successfully secured a nearly $3 billion down payment toward addressing the affordable housing crisis, helping to build over 28,000 units and support an additional 32,000 jobs.

Video from the event is available HERE.

Additional information on Gonzaga Family Haven is available HERE.

A one-page summary of the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act of 2021 is available HERE.

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