LISC’s Matt Josephs reflects on this year’s State of the Union speech, taking particular note of the president’s comments about affordable housing, child care, climate solutions and community safety. "Taken as a whole, the speech offered a strong and hopeful statement of purpose,” Josephs said, adding that it will take sustained leadership at all levels "to translate promising ideas into on-the-ground progress for families and communities.”
If you were looking for signals about community development in President Biden’s State of the Union address, there were plenty to be found. He talked about making housing more affordable. He talked about child care and education. He talked about making communities safer and improving health and promoting climate solutions.
And, woven throughout it all, he talked about fairness. “The very idea of America, that we are all created equal and deserve to be treated equally throughout our lives—we’ve never fully lived up to that idea, but we’ve never walked away from it either.”
Certainly, that commitment has always been part of the ethos of community development. Taken as a whole, the speech offered a strong and hopeful statement of purpose. But it will take sustained leadership at all levels—from Congress to federal agencies to state legislatures to city halls to neighborhood-based organizations—to translate promising ideas into on-the-ground progress for families and communities.
Expanding affordable housing
It is no surprise that housing was featured in the president’s domestic policy comments. The Biden administration is promoting a range of housing-related programs designed to spur development, expand affordability and fuel a more robust, more equitable housing market.
While affordability concerns are not new, they were both exposed and exacerbated by the pandemic. “We really see lowering housing costs and boosting the supply of housing as a key unfinished component of the president’s economic agenda,” said a senior White House official, in a teleconference previewing the State of the Union speech.
The expansion of the LIHTC program through the AHCIA would create close to 2 million more units of affordable housing over the next decade.
There are more specifics about the housing plan in a fact sheet released by the White House last week. It includes notable provisions like the expansion of the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program through the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act (AHCIA) (S. 1557 and H.R. 3238), which would create close to 2 million more units of affordable housing over the next decade. Two provisions drawn largely from the AHCIA were included as part of a tax package the House passed in January that is awaiting action in the Senate. These two provisions, if enacted, would create an additional 200,000 units of affordable housing. We strongly urge the Senate to take up the tax bill as soon as possible as a bridge to enacting AHCIA.
The president’s housing plan also includes the Neighborhood Homes Investment Act (NHIA)—a measure that has been introduced in several recent sessions of Congress but has yet to move forward. Seventy-five members of Congress from both sides of the aisle have signed on as supporters of this new tax credit. It would spur the development or rehabilitation of 500,000 homes for homeownership in underinvested communities over the next decade.
We are also eager to learn more about the president’s proposal for a $20 billion Innovation Fund for Housing Expansion and his plans for down payment assistance and mortgage credits. We know from our own experience at LISC how impactful it can be to connect down payment assistance to housing counseling and affordable financing options. And, certainly, delivering more capital to communities could help accelerate housing development activity in the years to come.
Investing in children
The president spoke repeatedly about strategies that would help lift up families and children. He called on Congress to reinstate the expanded Child Tax Credit, for example, which cut child poverty in half before it expired at the end of 2021. Like the LIHTC provisions, it is part of the tax package that is awaiting Senate action. It would almost immediately offer a boost to families, who would spend that funding in ways that benefit their local economies as well.
The president called on Congress to reinstate the expanded Child Tax Credit, which cut child poverty in half before it expired at the end of 2021.
The president also urged investments across the educational continuum, from early learners to college students, so that people have the chance to reach their full potential. From a community development perspective, we have long viewed investments in child care and local schools as fundamental to economic mobility—helping people step beyond unfair roadblocks related to zip code, race and income.
The president specifically mentioned child care, asking us to “Imagine a future with affordable child care so millions of families can get the care they need and still go to work and help grow the economy.”
To this end, LISC believes there needs to be a dedicated source of federal funding to support childcare facilities, which have significant difficulty accessing private-sector capital for project development and expansion. We also need to make sure that home-based providers get access to critical technical assistance support as well as low-cost financing to support their operations.
Promoting climate solutions
Though policy speeches can sometimes be peppered with hyperbole, the president’s reference to an historic commitment to climate action is real, and it’s unfolding right now. The Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, for example, will direct $27 billion to green housing, businesses, technology and jobs. It is not only unprecedented in the level and scope of its commitment; it also includes a focus on “environmental justice for fence-line communities smothered by the legacy of pollution,” as the president described in his speech.
The Environmental Protection Agency is expected to announce funding for the coalitions that will implement GGRF this month. LISC hopes to be able to tap into these resources to deploy a unique combination of financing, market building, and community engagement strategies that will cut energy costs for families, reduce emissions, and support tens of thousands of quality green jobs.
The Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund will direct $27 billion to green housing, businesses, technology and jobs
Addressing community safety
Even as violent crime rates have fallen following pandemic-era spikes, safety remains a core concern in many communities. LISC has been working on community violence intervention strategies with the Department of Justice for years, deploying funding, technical assistance and training to help municipalities and community-based organizations address specific local needs. (You can check out a recent webinar on safety here.)
We were pleased to see the president highlight types of strategies in his address and urge congressional action that would make people and places safer: “Help cities and towns invest in more community police officers, more mental health workers and more community violence intervention,” he said. He later added, “I see a future where we save the planet from the climate crisis and our country from gun violence.”
We appreciate the attention of the White House and members of Congress to the issues impacting urban and rural communities across the country. Along with our community development partners, LISC will continue to work closely with federal officials to advocate for policies that support opportunity and growth for all of our communities.
Read more about LISC’s policy priorities, which focus on needed strategies to advance policies and programs that guide the most vulnerable to a pathway of prosperity.
About the Author
Matt Josephs, Senior Vice President, LISC Policy
Matt manages the team that is responsible for developing LISC’s federal policy agenda; communicating this agenda to LISC employees, board members, funders and other stakeholders; and pursuing this agenda through engagement with members of Congress and other federal officials.
@LISC_policy