1. United States
2. Letter

I urge you to oppose HB537, the INCREASE Housing Affordability Act, which would create a new federal tax credit program for converting commercial buildings to residential units. While housing affordability is a critical issue, this legislation represents a costly and inefficient approach that primarily benefits wealthy developers rather than addressing the root causes of our housing crisis. The bill would provide tax credits of 15% to 30% of conversion costs, with caps of $200,000 per unit and $10 million per building. These are substantial subsidies that will reduce federal revenue without any clear offset mechanism or cost estimate. Taxpayers should not be subsidizing speculative real estate ventures that may have questionable long-term viability. This legislation raises serious concerns about federal overreach into local land use decisions, which have traditionally been state and local matters. The program would involve coordination between the IRS, HUD, and Department of Labor, creating a complex bureaucratic structure with substantial administrative burden and unclear enforcement mechanisms. The effectiveness of this credit in actually increasing affordable housing supply is highly questionable. The bill may simply subsidize market-rate conversions that would have occurred anyway, while doing little to ensure long-term affordability. There are no meaningful protections against displacement of existing commercial tenants or safeguards to prevent market distortions in areas already struggling with commercial vacancy. Rather than creating new tax expenditures that disproportionately benefit property owners and investors, we should focus on direct investments in affordable housing construction, tenant protections, and addressing zoning barriers that restrict housing supply. This bill represents corporate welfare disguised as housing policy. I ask that you vote against HB537 and instead support legislation that directly addresses housing affordability for working families without enriching developers at taxpayer expense.