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Housing and Homelessness

California's 19th Congressional has the unfortunate distinction as one of the most expensive areas to live in the country. That means that many of the families that work and contribute greatly to our community, are unable to live here and enjoy its beauty and bounty. I am working to change that.

I introduced multiple pieces of legislation focused on affordable housing, which is vital to reducing the cost of living in our community.  I authored and introduced bipartisan, bicameral legislation to incentivize the development of workforce housing in our community so that people who work here can live here.  I also introduced the Rent Relief Act which would help low-income families and individuals with a federal tax credit to help them afford to rent here. I am a strong supporter of the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act, HR 3077, to expand and strengthen the Affordable Housing Tax Credit (AHTC)to incentivize building more affordable housing and better support underserved communities. The legislation would increase the number of allocated tax credits by 50 percent and increase the number of units built by over 500,000 units over the next decade. In addition to increasing the number of credits available, the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act creates more veteran-specific housing options and further serve extremely-low income communities. The legislation will better protect victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking by ensuring Violence Against Women Act standards are applied to properties built using the AHTC. Importantly, for our agricultural communities, the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act includes provisions that help build more affordable housing in rural areas. It allows for more credits to go into rural properties, and it standardizes rural income limits for Housing Credit and Housing Bond properties.

Additionally, as a United States Representative, I secured funding for affordable housing programs, and brought in over $41 million grants for low-middle income, veterans,and homeless community members, I continue to support tax deductions for renters and affordable housing near public transit, and I was proud to pass into law legislation that included my bill, the Better Military Housing Act, to create a tenant bill of rights for residents of privatized military housing, prohibit retaliation against military tenants, and create a housing advocate for servicemembers. 

We need a comprehensive, all hands on deck approach to housing affordability issues and I will continue to work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to reduce the cost of living for all Americans by coming up with commonsense solutions for affordable housing in our own communities.