07.06.21

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

Cantwell: “When Congress returns next week to talk about infrastructure, we want affordable housing to be on the table.”

SEATTLE, WA – Today, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (D-WA) joined Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan, Tacoma Mayor Victoria Woodards, Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers, Executive Director of the Chief Seattle Club Derrick Belgarde, and Executive Director of the Washington State Housing and Finance Commission Steve Walker at the Chief Seattle Club ?ál?al “Home” project. At the event, they called for any federal infrastructure package passed by Congress to include increased federal support for affordable housing through the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC).

“We’re here with regional leaders throughout the Puget Sound to say that we have an affordable housing crisis. We’re also here to say, we should have a 50% increase in the affordable housing tax credit at the national level as part of an infrastructure bill so we can address that crisis and build more affordable housing,” said Senator Cantwell.

“As we emerge from the COVID-19 crisis, we’re confronting many of the issues we were already facing before the pandemic. Around the country, and especially in our region, finding a safe, affordable home is becoming increasingly more difficult,” said Congresswoman DelBene. “We fortunately have a proven, bipartisan solution to address this issue in the Housing Credit, the country’s most successful tool to produce affordable housing. As the national discussion around infrastructure continues in Congress, improving on the Housing Credit must be a key part of the conversation. We have the solution, we have strong bipartisan support, and now we just need to get this done.”

The Chief Seattle Club ?ál?al “Home” site is expected to welcome its first residents on October 1, 2021 and was built with the help of financing through the Affordable Housing Tax Credit. In April, Cantwell and DelBene introduced legislation that would expand and strengthen the Low Income Affordable Housing Tax Credit. Cantwell and DelBene’s plan would double the federal resources for the program and help to create 66,000 additional affordable housing units throughout the state.

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 Seattle housing market.

At the event, Senator Cantwell joined Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (D, WA-01), Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers; Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan; Tacoma Mayor Victoria Woodards; Executive Director of the Washington State Housing Finance Commission Steve Walker, Executive Director of Chief Seattle Club Derrick Belgarde, and Jolene Neiss, who has applied to be a resident at Chief Seattle Club’s ?ál?al housing.

During the event, Jolene Neiss spoke on the importance of affordable housing opportunities for indigenous people in Seattle, and all over Washington state, “I am grateful to be part of [Chief Seattle Club]... My goals are to further my education... I want to be able to help the older elders and help them to take care of their basic needs.”

After the press conference, Senator Cantwell joined Congresswoman DelBene for a tour of the site. The Chief Seattle Club is an organization dedicated to supporting American Indian and Alaska Native people. The Club’s day center in the Pioneer Square neighborhood of downtown Seattle provides food, primary health care, housing assistance, an urban Indian legal clinic, a Native art job training program, as well as frequent outings for members to cultural and community-building events. In King County, Native Americans have the highest poverty rate of any racial group and are seven times more likely to be homeless than whites. The finished project will include a total of 80 units, with 60 designated units for homeless families and 10 units for homeless veterans.

Senator Cantwell and Congresswoman DelBene have been longtime champions of the need for more affordable housing. In April, Cantwell and DelBene 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 Chief Seattle Club ?ál?al “Home” is available HERE.

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

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