May 5, 2022
By: Meir Rinde, Shelterforce
The collapse of President Biden’s $2 trillion Build Back Better (BBB) plan last year took with it the promise of more than $300 billion in spending on affordable housing programs and tax credits. While the administration still holds out hope of passing a greatly slimmed down version, even the plan’s most ardent advocates say it would focus on priorities other than housing, such as tax reform, prescription drug costs, and climate change.
“Even in the highly unlikely circumstance where this spending bill would be able to move, none of our allies in Congress are saying, ‘If we only get three things, housing’s going to be one of them,’” says David Dworkin, president and CEO of the National Housing Conference, a coalition of affordable housing lenders, providers, and other stakeholders. “It doesn’t do any good if you’re on everybody’s top 10 list, if they’re only going to do five things and you’re number six.”
