On Feb. 25, the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Housing Commission released its recommendations for changes to national housing policy in a report entitled, “Housing America’s Future: New Directions for National Policy.” It is a comprehensive report that covers a lot of ground — from reforming the housing finance system and improving rural housing, to allowing more seniors to age in place and expanding the availability of affordable housing to people in need.

The report is a culmination of 16 months of research by the commission, which was first established in October 2011 to set a new direction for federal housing policy. The co-chairs are Maine’s own former U.S. Senator George Mitchell, former U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez (R-FL), former HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros, and former U.S. Sen. Christopher Bond (R-MO).

To provide the framework for their efforts, the commission organized a series of forums with housing professionals and practitioners around the country, including one last summer in Mount Desert Island. Avesta Housing, the Maine Affordable Housing Coalition, and other groups provided local support for the forum and offered testimony to the members of the commission. Much of that testimony focused on the dire shortage of housing options for extremely low-income families in Maine.

To address that problem, the commission recommends that our nation transition to a system in which all households with incomes at or below 30% of the area median income are assured access to rental assistance. As it stands now, most of these vulnerable families must wait years to receive a housing voucher, often while living in unhealthy or dangerous conditions.

Other key recommendations for addressing the affordable housing crisis include:

• Expanding the Low Income Housing Tax Credit program by 50% over current funding levels, to build up to 400,000 more quality housing units over a 10-year period
• Addressing the capital backlog in public housing to improve quality and energy efficiency
• Providing short-term emergency assistance to low-income renters (30%-80% of area median income) who suffer temporary setbacks, to ensure stability and prevent homelessness

While much work will be needed to turn these recommendations into reality, there is no question that they represent a thoughtful and important analysis of our country’s most pressing housing problems and how they can be better addressed.

But one of the most lasting legacies of the report may be the support it offers to reforming the way our country’s tax code treats the homeownership and rental housing sectors. Specifically, the report states, “the commission recommends consideration of further modifications to federal tax incentives for homeownership to allow for an increase in the level of support provided to affordable rental housing”¦. A portion of any revenue generated in changes in tax subsidies for homeownership should be devoted to expanding support for rental housing programs for low-income populations in need of affordable housing.”

Such a reform of America’s tax code represents perhaps our greatest opportunity for ending homelessness and addressing America’s worst-case housing needs. Lowering the cap on the amount of mortgage for which interest can be deducted — from $1,000,000 to $500,000 — and converting the tax deduction to a 15% non-refundable tax credit would assist 16 million more low- and moderate-income homeowners who do not currently benefit from the mortgage interest deduction. It would also save $200 billion over 10 years — money that could be used to end homelessness and provide rental assistance to those with the greatest rental housing needs.

The engagement on such a critical tax fairness issue by the moderate, well-respected voices at the Bipartisan Policy Center comes at a particularly important time, as members of Congress prepare to file legislation that would affect precisely the kind of change to the tax code that the report recommends.

Stay tuned for more on this topic in the coming weeks.

By Greg Payne, Development Officer/Coordinator, Maine Affordable Housing Coalition