The Senate Committee on Housing and Human Services voted to advance a three-bill package from Sen. Jeff Irwin (D-Ann Arbor) that would establish a low-income housing tax credit under the Michigan State Housing Development Authority.
Irwin, who also chairs the committee, said in a news release that legislation would supplement the federal low income housing tax credit, the main financing tool for developing affordable housing projects.
“The additional financing will cover funding gaps, enabling developers to make use of federal LIHTC dollars to invest in the building of over 2,500 new homes every year,” the news release said. “Michigan currently has 200,000 low-income households unable to find affordable housing.”
In 2024, at least 32 states and the District of Columbia had similar state-level supplements to the federal credit.
“Housing costs are crippling family budgets and making it harder for young people to find a future in our state,” Irwin said. “This legislation will mean more housing, leading to more options and affordability.”
In a May hearing on the bills, Irwin also emphasized that the federal credits are working, and that for other states, state-level supplements have boosted the availability of affordable housing.
“We have achieved record production over the past couple of years, but the tools we have right now are not going to close that gap,” Jennifer Bowman, director of government affairs and public policy for the Michigan State Housing Development Authority, said in the May hearing. “To keep pace with demand, rising construction costs, higher interest rates, we need additional reliable financing tools to support affordable housing in the state, too, so that they can compete.”
“We’ve really tried to make sure that we have the right carve-outs and the right avenues in how we allocate the tax credits to make sure that we are serving the entire state,” added Chad Benson, the director of the agency’s rental division.
The bills each were reported to the Senate floor on an 8-1 vote, with only Sen. Jonathan Lindsey (R-Coldwater) voting against each. Sen. John Damoose (R-Allen) joined all of the panel’s Democrats voting in favor of the legislation.
