II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1377 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to improve the low-income 

housing credit. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 27, 2023 

Mr. CASEY (for himself, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, and Mr. WELCH) introduced the following bill; which was read 

twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to improve 

the low-income housing credit. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Visitable Inclusive Tax 

5 credits for Accessible Living (VITAL) Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

7 The purposes of this Act are to— 

8 (1) increase low-income housing tax credits to 

9 increase the stock of disability-accessible and afford10 able housing; 


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1 (2) ensure that States are using the Federal 

2 tax credits to construct housing that will meet the 

3 needs of an aging population and currently under4 served populations such as households with people 

5 with disabilities; 

6 (3) encourage States to make sure older adults 

7 and underserved populations are integrated into 

8 their community and can fully participate in society; 

9 and 

10 (4) increase technical assistance, awareness, 

11 knowledge, and understanding of the low-income 

12 housing credit program and the housing needs of 

13 older adults and people with disabilities. 

14 SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 

15 Congress makes the following findings: 

16 (1) By 2060, 1 in every 4 Americans will be 

17 over age 65, and currently, 2 in 5 adults over age 

18 65 have a disability. As people age, they need struc19 turally safe and functional housing that accommo20 dates people with disabilities. 

21 (2) Approximately 26 percent of people in the 

22 United States have a disability, yet less than 6 per23 cent of the national housing supply is designed to be 

24 even rudimentarily accessible. 


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1 (3) An accessible home offers specific features 

2 or technologies such as lowered kitchen counters and 

3 sinks, widened doorways, and zero-step showers. 

4 (4) A lack of affordable and accessible housing 

5 can relegate people with disabilities to living in insti6 tutional settings when they would prefer to live in a 

7 community setting. 

8 (5) Older adults and people with disabilities 

9 prefer to remain in their homes for as long as pos10 sible. More than 89 percent of adults aged 65 and 

11 over hope to stay in their homes as they age. 

12 (6) Older adults and people with disabilities 

13 must be able to run errands, work, visit family and 

14 friends, and keep doctor appointments, while not al15 ways being able to drive. Accessible and affordable 

16 public transit options and walkable and roll-able 

17 neighborhoods allow older adults and people with 

18 disabilities to remain independent and active in their 

19 communities. 

20 (7) Many older adults and people with disabil21 ities are experiencing an affordability crisis. Ap22 proximately 4,800,000 non-institutionalized people 

23 with disabilities who depend on Federal monthly 

24 Supplemental Security Income have incomes aver25 aging only about $9,156 per year, low enough to be 


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1 priced out of every rental housing market in the na2 tion. 

3 SEC. 4. INCREASES IN STATE ALLOCATIONS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Clause (ii) of section 42(h)(3)(C) 

5 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended— 

6 (1) by striking ‘‘$1.75’’ in subclause (I) and in7 serting ‘‘$4.47’’, and 

8 (2) by striking ‘‘$2,000,000’’ in subclause (II) 

9 and inserting ‘‘$5,154,965’’. 

10 (b) COST-OF-LIVING ADJUSTMENT.—Subparagraph 

11 (H) of section 42(h)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

12 1986 is amended— 

13 (1) by striking ‘‘2002’’ in clause (i) and insert14 ing ‘‘2023’’, 

15 (2) by striking ‘‘the $2,000,000 and $1.75 

16 amounts in subparagraph (C)’’ in clause (i) and in17 serting ‘‘the $5,154,965 and $4.47 amounts in sub18 paragraph (C)’’, 

19 (3) by striking ‘‘2001’’ in clause (i)(II) and in20 serting ‘‘2022’’, 

21 (4) by striking ‘‘$2,000,000 amount’’ in clause 

22 (ii)(I) and inserting ‘‘$5,154,965’’, and 

23 (5) by striking ‘‘$1.75 amount’’ in clause 

24 (ii)(II) and inserting ‘‘$4.47’’. 


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1 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

2 this section shall apply to calendar years beginning after 

3 December 31, 2023. 

4 SEC. 5. TAX-EXEMPT BOND FINANCING REQUIREMENT. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subparagraph (B) of section 

6 42(h)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended 

7 by adding at the end the following: ‘‘In the case of build8 ings financed by an obligation first taken into account 

9 under section 146 in calendar years beginning after 2023, 

10 the preceding sentence shall be applied by substituting ‘25 

11 percent’ for ‘50 percent’.’’. 

12 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

13 this section shall apply to buildings placed in service in 

14 taxable years beginning after December 31, 2023. 

15 SEC. 6. INCREASE IN CREDIT FOR PROJECTS DESIGNATED 

16 TO SERVE HOUSEHOLDS WITH PEOPLE WITH 

17 DISABILITIES. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (5) of section 42(d) of 

19 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding 

20 at the end the following new subparagraph: 

21 ‘‘(C) INCREASE IN CREDIT FOR PROJECTS

22 DESIGNATED TO SERVE HOUSEHOLDS WITH

23 PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES.— 

24 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any 

25 building— 


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1 ‘‘(I) 50 percent or more of the 

2 low-income units in the building are 

3 units designated by the taxpayer to 

4 meet the applicable design standards 

5 for occupancy by persons with mental, 

6 physical, sensory, or developmental 

7 disabilities, 

8 ‘‘(II) which is located in a census 

9 block group designated by the Envi10 ronmental Protection Agency as 

11 being— 

12 ‘‘(aa) above average or bet13 ter in terms of walkability, or 

14 ‘‘(bb) adjacent to 2 or more 

15 census tracts described in item 

16 (aa), and 

17 ‘‘(III) which is designated by the 

18 housing credit agency as requiring the 

19 increase in credit under this subpara20 graph in order for such building to be 

21 financially feasible as part of a quali22 fied low-income housing project, 

23 subparagraph (B) shall not apply to the 

24 portion of such building which is comprised 

25 of such units, and the eligible basis of such 


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1 portion of the building shall be 130 per2 cent of such basis determined without re3 gard to this subparagraph. 

4 ‘‘(ii) DESIGN STANDARDS.—For pur5 poses of clause (i)(I), the term ‘applicable 

6 design standards’ means the principles and 

7 standards of adaptable design as detailed 

8 in the Uniform Federal Accessibility 

9 Standards, or any successor standard des10 ignated by the Secretary.’’. 

11 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

12 this section shall apply to buildings which receive alloca13 tions of housing credit dollar amount or, in the case of 

14 projects financed by tax-exempt obligations as described 

15 in section 42(h)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, 

16 which are first taken into account under section 146 of 

17 such Code, after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

18 SEC. 7. REQUIREMENT FOR PROJECTS DESIGNATED TO 

19 SERVE HOUSEHOLDS WITH PEOPLE WITH 

20 DISABILITIES. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (1) of section 42(m) 

22 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by add23 ing at the end the following new subparagraph: 


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1 ‘‘(E) PROJECTS DESIGNATED TO SERVE

2 HOUSEHOLDS WITH PEOPLE WITH DISABIL3 ITIES.— 

4 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The qualified allo5 cation plan shall ensure that, with respect 

6 to any 3-year period, the applicable per7 centage is not less than 40 percent. 

8 ‘‘(ii) APPLICABLE PERCENTAGE.—For 

9 purposes of this subparagraph, the applica10 ble percentage is the ratio (expressed as a 

11 percentage) of— 

12 ‘‘(I) the number of low-income 

13 units in all projects receiving an allo14 cation of the housing credit dollar 

15 amount during such period which 

16 meet the requirements of subclause 

17 (I) of subsection (d)(5)(C)(i), to 

18 ‘‘(II) the aggregate number of all 

19 low-income units in all projects receiv20 ing an allocation of the housing credit 

21 dollar amount during such period. 

22 ‘‘(iii) SPECIAL RULE.—For purposes 

23 of clause (ii)(I), any low-income unit which 

24 is part of a project which meets the re25 quirements of both subclause (I) and subVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:49 May 10, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1377.IS S1377

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1 clause (II) of subsection (d)(5)(C)(i) shall 

2 be counted twice.’’. 

3 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

4 this section shall apply to buildings which receive alloca5 tions of housing credit dollar amount or, in the case of 

6 projects financed by tax-exempt obligations as described 

7 in section 42(h)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, 

8 which are first taken into account under section 146 of 

9 such Code, after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

10 SEC. 8. RESOURCE CENTERS FOR THE LOW-INCOME HOUS11 ING TAX CREDIT PROGRAM. 

12 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

13 (1) CENTER.—The term ‘‘Center’’ means a Re14 source Center established under subsection (b). 

15 (2) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Program’’ means a 

16 program established for allocating amount under 

17 section 42(h) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 

18 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.—Each State housing finance 

19 agency shall establish and operate a Resource Center for 

20 the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Program to support 

21 new applicants and recipients for the Program in the State 

22 by— 

23 (1) providing potential applicants and recipients 

24 with information and technical assistance to effec25 tively prepare and submit a Program application; 


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1 (2) ensuring that all interested and eligible en2 tities have the tools to apply for the Program; 

3 (3) prioritizing providing assistance to nonprofit 

4 and first-time developers applying for the Program; 

5 (4) identifying potential barriers to preparing 

6 and submitting a successful application for the Pro7 gram; 

8 (5) prioritizing providing assistance to devel9 opers dedicated to serving communities who have 

10 faced a history of housing discrimination; and 

11 (6) proposing streamlined solutions to those 

12 barriers that the State and each locality within the 

13 State can adopt. 

14 (c) OPERATING STANDARDS AND REPORTING RE15 QUIREMENTS.—Each State housing finance agency shall 

16 develop and issue operating standards and reporting re17 quirements for the Center established by the agency. 

18 (d) SET ASIDE.—There is authorized to be appro19 priated $8,250,000 for fiscal year 2024 and each fiscal 

20 year thereafter to carry out this section, of which 

21 $150,000 shall be allocated each fiscal year to each State 

22 housing finance agency located in— 

23 (1) a State of the United States; 

24 (2) the District of Columbia; or 

25 (3) a territory of the United States. 


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1 SEC. 9. NATIONAL LOW-INCOME HOUSING TAX CREDIT AD2 VISORY COUNCIL. 

3 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 (1) COUNCIL.—The term ‘‘Council’’ means the 

5 National Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Advisory 

6 Council established under subsection (b). 

7 (2) COVERED PROPERTY.—The term ‘‘covered 

8 property’’ means a building receiving an allocation of 

9 credit under section 42 of the Internal Revenue 

10 Code of 1986. 

11 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a Na12 tional Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Advisory Council. 

13 (c) MEMBERSHIP.— 

14 (1) SELECTION; CHAIR.—The Council shall be 

15 comprised of members selected by a designee jointly 

16 selected by the Secretary of Housing and Urban De17 velopment and the Secretary of the Treasury, who 

18 shall serve as chair of the Council. 

19 (2) MEMBERS.—The Council shall be composed 

20 of not less than 1 representative from each of the 

21 following groups: 

22 (A) Community-based organizations that 

23 support individuals with disabilities living in 

24 covered properties. 


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1 (B) Community-based organizations that 

2 support older adults living in covered prop3 erties. 

4 (C) Community-based organizations that 

5 support veterans living in covered properties. 

6 (D) Community-based organizations that 

7 support families and children living in covered 

8 properties. 

9 (E) A multi-State not-for-profit housing 

10 developer. 

11 (F) A multi-State for-profit housing devel12 oper. 

13 (G) Investors or syndicators of funds to 

14 which credits allocated under section 42 of the 

15 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 are sold. 

16 (H) The research community. 

17 (I) State housing finance agencies. 

18 (J) Community-based organizations that 

19 support individuals protected from discrimina20 tion under the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 

21 3601 et seq.). 

22 (3) QUALIFICATIONS.—The members of the 

23 Council shall— 

24 (A) have a lived experience as part of the 

25 group they represent; and 


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1 (B) represent a diversity of— 

2 (i) educational and professional back3 grounds; 

4 (ii) racial, ethnic, gender, and lin5 guistic identities; 

6 (iii) disabilities, including intellectual 

7 disabilities; 

8 (iv) ages; and 

9 (v) geographic locations. 

10 (4) DURATION.—Each member of the Council 

11 shall be appointed for a period of 3 years and may 

12 be re-appointed for an additional term. 

13 (d) DUTIES.—The Council shall provide best practice 

14 recommendations and resources to State housing finance 

15 agencies, developers, investors, and consumers related to 

16 national trends in the development of affordable housing 

17 under section 42 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 

18 (e) REPORT.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Council shall submit to 

20 each State housing finance agency and the Secretary 

21 of Housing and Urban Development a report, which 

22 shall be submitted not less frequently than once 

23 every 3 years, with final recommendations on best 

24 practices to— 


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1 (A) fulfill the mission of the credits allo2 cated under section 42 of the Internal Revenue 

3 Code of 1986; 

4 (B) serve the needs of individuals with dis5 abilities and older adults; and 

6 (C) study the effects of factors such as 

7 zoning, land use requirements, location, and 

8 cost of affordable housing developments. 

9 (2) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—Upon receiving a 

10 report submitted under paragraph (1), the Secretary 

11 of Housing and Urban Development shall make the 

12 report available to the public. 

13 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

14 authorized to be appropriated $15,000,000 for fiscal year 

15 2024 and each fiscal year thereafter to carry out this sec16 tion, which amounts shall be provided to the Council to 

17 cover the costs of travel and the necessary operations of 

18 the Council. 

Æ 


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