What Climate, Health Care Bill Doesn\u2019t Do<\/p>\n\n\n\n
President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law Tuesday, a sweeping climate, healthcare and tax bill that spares affordable housing investment and other real estate from the most feared new taxes. The $784 billion legislation allows Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices, invests billions of dollars into clean energy and imposes a 15% minimum tax on corporations with more than $1 billion of earnings. A portion of the revenue raised also will go toward deficit reduction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the law excludes an array of tax measures on real estate investment proposed last year. \u201cWhen discussions began on the original Build Back Better plan, there were nearly a dozen tax changes that could have decimated our efforts to increase the supply of affordable housing,\u201d says Shannon McGahn, NAR\u2019s chief advocacy officer. \u201cAfter spending more than a year educating lawmakers on these proposals, a bipartisan consensus emerged that they weren\u2019t a good idea, and none of the harmful tax changes made it into the final bill.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Last year, NAR launched a comprehensive action plan to advocate for affordable housing supply. A study commissioned by NAR showed the U.S. is 5.5 million housing units short and that it could take more than a decade to fill that gap\u2014even with accelerated new construction. \u201cA supply shortage of this magnitude requires an all-of-the-above response,\u201d says NAR President Leslie Rouda Smith. \u201cWe are working toward zoning reform, money for new construction, expanded financing options and tax incentives to spur investment, convert unused commercial spaces to residential and increase the supply of construction workers. And our efforts are building consensus that decisive action is needed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In March, the White House included a historic funding request for affordable housing in its budget proposal. Then, in May, thousands of REALTORS\u00ae descended on Washington, D.C., and hand-delivered to Congress a comprehensive list of actions they could take to address the housing shortage. Also, in May, the Biden administration released a Housing Supply Action Plan. In July, the Treasury Department allowed the use of $350 billion in American Rescue Plan funds for developing, repairing, and operating affordable housing units.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe aren\u2019t just working with Congress and the administration,\u201d McGahn says. \u201cWe\u2019re also working with industry partners and agencies on a wide array of initiatives to expand homeownership\u2014such as the Black Homeownership Collaborative\u2019s 3by30 plan to add 3 million net new Black homeowners by 2030.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00a9National Association of REALTORS\u00ae
Reprinted with permission<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
What Climate, Health Care Bill Doesn\u2019t Do President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law Tuesday, a sweeping climate, healthcare and tax bill that spares affordable housing investment and other real estate from the most feared new taxes. The $784 billion legislation allows Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices, invests billions of dollars … <\/p>\n