06.30.21

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

In first in-person event since WA state reopening, Cantwell urges action on Affordable Housing Crisis in southwest Washington.

VANCOUVER, WA – Today, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), held a press event with local officials and housing advocates at Caples Terrace Apartments in Vancouver, nearly two years after she attended the grand opening ribbon cutting ceremony (footage HERE). At today’s event, Senator Cantwell advocated for increased federal support through the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program to address the housing affordability crisis and better serve at-risk and low-income communities.

“This is the first official event that we have done since the COVID pandemic in person. That says that one: southwest Washington is a priority and we wanted to come here,” said Senator Cantwell.“And certainly that the first event that we wanted to do was to go back and focus again on the need for more affordable housing. Affordable housing is a crisis in the United States of America, and it’s a crisis in our state.

The Senator continued, “What we know about the Affordable Housing Tax Credit is that it is a great solution, that it basically helps build more affordable housing in our communities and just like Caples Terrace, they can be unique. They can be tailored to the community and the needs of the community and the population that they are trying to serve. So, we are here to say first and foremost that housing and affordable housing must be part of our nation’s infrastructure package. That is what we’re here to work on today – a 50% increase in the Affordable Housing Tax Credit. Why? Because we haven’t kept pace with demand.”

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 Vancouver housing market.

At the event, Senator Cantwell joined Erik Paulsen, Councilor, City of Vancouver; Roy Johnson, Executive Director, Vancouver Housing Authority; Steve Walker, Executive Director, Washington State Housing Finance Commission; Miguel Viveros Chavez, Resident, Caples Terrace.

Miguel Viveros Chavez a blind resident at Caples Terrace spoke about the impact that living there has had in his life,

“I know how difficult it is for people who are visually impaired to find employment. The employment rate for us is still really low… I am a huge advocate for people who are blind. I have friends who are at the blind school who are doing their college program. Having affordable housing for them would be a great opportunity for them to get a chance to get a living situation and not be worried about, ‘where am I going to go next?’”

“I’m a first generation college grad... My parents grew up in agriculture and they worked very hard. I am one out of eight so for me to be standing here, I just feel privileged, very, very honored. What Caples has really meant to me is that I really have enjoyed just finding the resources. And I am someone who has fought really hard to get to where I am because it hasn’t been an easy route for me at all. I had to deal with a lot of struggles in school with accommodations. I had to deal with a lot of personal struggles. I was working three jobs at once and going to school full time so that was a very difficult thing to do but I was able to manage and got through it…”

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.

Videos from this event are available here: VIDEO 1,VIDEO 2, VIDEO 3.

Video from the 2019 Caples Terrace grand opening ceremony is available HERE.

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

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