Last week, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., joined a host of senators from both sides of the aisle to call for a task force to examine affordable housing.
Rubio joins Republican U.S. Sens. Cory Gardner of Colorado, Dean Heller of Nevada and Todd Young of Indiana, Democrat U.S. Sens. Maria Cantwell of Washington, Chris Coons of Delaware, Doug Jones of Alabama and Tim Kaine of Virginia and independent U.S. Sen. Angus King of Maine to launch the “Task Force on the Impact of the Affordable Housing Crisis Act.”
According to Rubio’s office, the proposed task force “will evaluate and quantify the impact of housing costs on other government programs and provide recommendations to Congress on how increase affordable housing options in order to improve the effectiveness of other federal programs.”
“It is imperative that Congress address the affordable housing crisis that is hurting families across the country,” Rubio said on Wednesday. “This bill would help do that by establishing a bipartisan task force that will help make upward mobility more attainable for working class families in the 21st century. I am proud to support this bipartisan legislation so that more of America’s children and families will have a chance to realize their potential.”
“As I travel throughout Indiana, I consistently hear about the need for more affordable housing,” Young said. “It’s clear that we need a better understanding of this crisis in order to make the policy changes necessary to help families succeed. Our bill would bring together a group of experts to evaluate the affordable housing crisis and identify solutions to help lift up millions of struggling individuals.”
“This year we were able to boost the Low Income Housing Tax Credit, which has built 90 percent of affordable housing in our country,” said Cantwell. “More needs to be done to get to the root causes of the affordable housing crisis and show that the LIHTC is cost-effective and creates jobs.”
The task force would examine the impact of the lack of affordable hosing on income, health, education, employment and other areas, see how it impacts government programs and make recommendations to Congress on how current federal programs can offer solutions.
