{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://schrier.house.gov/media/press-releases/congresswoman-schrier-introduces-legislation-encourage-affordable-housing", "Congresswoman Schrier Introduces Legislation to Encourage Affordable Housing Development and Address the Housing Crisis", "2024-08-14", "2024", "2024-08", "Democrat", "House", "WA", "Kim Schrier", "S001216", "schrier.house.gov", "schrier", "https://schrier.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "ISSAQUAH, WA \u2013 Today, while hosting a roundtable discussion focused on addressing affordable housing, Congresswoman Kim Schrier, M.D. (WA-08) announced her new bill, the Lasting Home Affordability Act of 2024, which increases homeownership opportunities and will help bring Washington state\u2019s skyrocketing housing costs down. The bill aims to provide the financial tools necessary by making available low-interest construction loans for entities specializing in lasting affordability for often costly housing projects.\n\nThroughout the Eighth District, home costs have skyrocketed, pricing thousands of residents out of the housing market. According to the Builders Industry Association of Washington, homeownership is unaffordable for 73.3% of households in Washington State, with nearly every county in the Eighth District scoring even higher.\n\nCongresswoman Schrier has worked to address the housing crisis and lower costs for Washingtonians by:\n\nIntroducing the Low-Income Household Water Assistance Program (LIHWAP) Establishment Act. This legislation would lower the water and wastewater utility bills for millions of Americans.\n\nSupporting legislation such as the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act, a bipartisan bill that would revise the Low-income Housing Tax Credit by increasing the per capita dollar amount of the credit and its minimum ceiling.\n\nSecuring $1.5 million for the development of a 12-unit residential building dedicated to low-income senior Veterans in Kittitas County.\n\nSecuring $1 million to upgrade the Granite Falls Wastewater Treatment Plant. Due to an uptick in population, the city placed a sewer moratorium in place, preventing further new housing construction. This project and funding would thus allow for the construction of new housing.\n\nSecuring $500,000 to renovate sixteen units of affordable housing in Enumclaw.\n\nSecuring $200,000 to upgrade and preserve the YWCA Northwest Central Washington Permanent Supportive Housing building. This investment would help YWCA continue to serve the community and provide much-needed safe and stable housing.\n\nHosting roundtable discussions with local residents and industry leaders to discuss ways to address the housing crisis in Washington State.\n\n\u201cAll across the Eighth District, I\u2019ve long heard from my constituents who are concerned that rising housing costs have made it unaffordable for them to find a home,\u201d said Congresswoman Schrier. \u201cI understand their concerns \u2013 at a time where rising prices at the gas pump, grocery store, and more are already putting pressure on Washingtonians, housing costs have only exacerbated the problem. That\u2019s why I am proud to introduce this legislation to provide a long-lasting solution and an important step towards combating the housing crisis.\u201d\n\nCongresswoman Schrier\u2019s bill would specifically create a pilot grant program at the Department of Treasury for state housing agencies to establish an accessible, low-interest revolving loan fund for construction housing projects. Loans would be offered to housing nonprofits, like community land trusts and other entities operating a shared equity homeownership program.\n\nShared equity homeownership programs sell homes to homebuyers at an affordable rate according to the region\u2019s Area Median Income (AMI), using public investments and private donations to bridge the gap between the going market rate of a home and the affordable rate for a given AMI. Homeowners agree to a resale formula in order to keep homes affordable for future reselling. These projects allow homeowners to build meaningful wealth while still allowing subsequent homebuyers to afford a home. They also ensure that public investments are impactful and long-lasting and stay with the housing unit for generations. In a 2023 report, the Washington Department of Commerce and stakeholders recommended exploring this type of lasting affordability model to solve the state\u2019s housing crisis.\n\nOne of the biggest barriers is the lack of accessible funding to lower the cost of the home for prospective buyers, including the construction of the home. By offering accessible, low-interest construction loans lent out by their state, these nonprofits can access attractive financial resources with less federal regulatory burden when constructing costly housing projects.\n\n\u201cWith the housing crisis our communities are facing, we need all the financial tools possible to keep our projects moving forward. Construction loan funding is critical to our work to increase affordable housing inventory for low-to-moderate-income households.\u201d said Thom Ness, Executive Director of Common Ground Community Housing Trust. \u201cBelow-market loans make it possible for non-profit developers, like Common Ground, to borrow funds at a lower cost, thus reducing the costs of servicing the loans and making it easier to provide affordable housing. Common Ground Community Housing Trust needs funds like this to help address this housing crisis in Wenatchee, WA\u201d\n\n\u201cAccess to affordable funds for development and construction of permanently affordable homes that are environmentally sustainable and designed for durability is a critical missing piece here in Snohomish County, where we are constantly competing with multi-family developers. Homes and Hope CLT has more than 45 homes in our pipeline, but can only bring a few homes to construction at a time, due to the steep competition for construction funds,\u201d said Kim Toskey, CEO, Homes and Hope Community Land Trust. \u201cA key component to solving our statewide and national housing shortage is to facilitate access to below-market loans for community-based organizations that will produce below-market homes\u201d\n\n\u201cAs our state and our nation rise to the challenge of addressing middle-income housing solutions, lower-cost access to construction loan financing for affordable homeownership is a critical tool. Community land trusts throughout Washington State \u2013 serving urban and rural communities -- face accelerating construction costs,\u201d said Kathleen Hosfeld, CEO/Executive Director, Homestead Community Land Trust, King County, WA. \u201cThis solution provides a meaningful resource to increase production of desperately needed homes. We\u2019re grateful to Rep. Schrier for listening and responding quickly to a need that affects affordable homeownership on both sides of the Cascades.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe United States is experiencing a historic low supply of entry-level affordable homes in every state, which is driving up costs. We are thrilled to see the introduction of the Lasting Home Affordability Act of 2024,\u201d said Chris Vincent, VP of Government Relations and Advocacy at Habitat for Humanity International. \u201cThis bill would take practical steps to increase the supply of affordable homes for purchase, putting homeownership within reach for more households.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe at Habitat for Humanity Seattle-King & Kittitas Counites know what it takes to build permanently affordable homeownership opportunities for families,\u201d said Brett D\u2019Antonio, CEO, Habitat for Humanity Seattle-King & Kittitas Counties. \u201cPrograms like this, bridging the gap between public and private funding and home sales to families, is exactly what is needed to scale up and build more houses for more families. This is an important step towards fulfilling the vision of Habitat for Humanity - to build a world where everyone has a safe, decent, and affordable place to call home.\"", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T21:36:13Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://schrier.house.gov/media/press-releases/congresswoman-schrier-introduces-legislation-encourage-affordable-housing"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.3800021260976791, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}