Urge Senators Durbin and Kirk to Support Mortgage Interest Deduction Reform and National Housing Trust Fund by July 26
The leaders of the Senate Finance Committee have informed their colleagues that they want to start from a “blank slate” on comprehensive federal tax reform, eliminating all tax expenditures (i.e., tax breaks and loopholes) and only putting back those that can be defended as:
- Helping to grow the economy.
- Making the tax code fairer.
- Effectively promoting other important policy objectives.
By July 26, we need Illinois Senators Richard Durbin and Mark Kirk to request that the United for Homes proposal should be included in the tax reform package the Senate Finance Committee will consider.
Background
By reducing the size of a mortgage eligible for the mortgae interest deduction (MID) to $500,000 from the current $1 million and converting the MID to a 15% non-refundable tax credit, the United for Homes proposal will increase the number of homeowners who benefit from 39 million to 55 million. Of the households newly eligible for the tax break, 99% have incomes under $100,000.
In addition, these changes will will save $197 million over 10 years that can be used to house America’s poorest families through the National Housing Trust Fund (NHTF). The NHTF will close the gap between the supply and need for housing, potentially allowing every state to end homelessness. For every $5 billion allocated to the NHTF, Illinois would get almost $239 million, primarily to create and preserve affordable rental housing for extremely low-income households.
The United for Homes proposal meets all three of Senate Finance Committee’s objectives for proposals, as it would:
- Grow the economy through job creation and encouraging consumer spending.
- Make the tax code fairer by providing a better targeted tax benefit to a greater number of homeowners.
- Promote important policy objectives, such as supporting homeownership, ending homelessness, and helping our nation’s children achieve educational success by ensuring families have access to affordable housing.
Want More Information?
More resources are available online at www.unitedforhomes.org.
How You Can Help
Please respond to our action alert at http://bit.ly/184LNZl.