TITLE: Expand the Annual Low Income Housing Tax Credit Program Allocation By 50% and Create a Set-Aside for Tribal Governments
WHEREAS, we, the members of the National Congress of American Indians of the United States, invoking the divine blessing of the Creator upon our efforts and purposes, in order to preserve for ourselves and our descendants the inherent sovereign rights of our Indian nations, rights secured under Indian treaties and agreements with the United States, and all other rights and benefits to which we are entitled under the laws and Constitution of the United States, to enlighten the public toward a better understanding of the Indian people, to preserve Indian cultural values, and otherwise promote the health, safety and welfare of the Indian people, do hereby establish and submit the following resolution; and
WHEREAS, the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) was established in 1944 and is the oldest and largest national organization of American Indian and Alaska Native tribal governments; and
WHEREAS, Senator Maria Cantwell, D-WA, announced on March 26, 2016 her proposal to expand the annual low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) allocation by 50 percent, to promote broader income mixing in LIHTC developments and to allow states more flexibility in financing properties targeting homeless or extremely low-income individuals and families; and
WHEREAS, Senator Maria Cantwell expects the proposals to create or preserve an additional 400,000 affordable rental homes over the next 10 years, and is working with her Senate colleagues to introduce the proposals as legislation soon; and
WHEREAS, the LIHTC is too frequently unavailable to tribes. Indian tribes have great numbers of low-income tribal members and long waiting list of members who need housing. Unfortunately, the LIHTC allocations are provided only to state governments, who most frequently use criteria that benefit only urban areas, and a set-aside is needed for tribal governments to ensure that the needs for their citizens are met; and
WHEREAS, in support of the need in Indian country for a set-aside for housing development, in testimony of Lourdes Castro Ramirez, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing before the US Senate Committee on Indian Affairs in March, 2016, stated:
• U.S. Census reports that one out of every four Native Americans lives in poverty – including more than one-third of all Native American children; far too many families live in unacceptable circumstances and face a future that lacks educational and economic opportunity.
• In the last 14 years (2003-2016), the number of low-income families in the Indian Housing Block Grant (IHBG) formula areas grew by almost 44 percent, and now exceeds 322,000 families.
• The number of overcrowded households, or households without adequate kitchens or plumbing, grew by 23 percent, to over 111,000 families.
• Finally, the number of families with severe housing costs grew by 58 percent, to over 66,000 families.
American Indian and Alaska Native people living in tribal areas in 2006-2010 had a poverty rate and an unemployment rate that were at least twice as high as those rates for non-Indians nationally.
• American Indian and Alaska Native people in large tribal areas were more than 3 times as likely to live in housing that was overcrowded, and more than 11 times as likely than the national average to live in housing that did not have adequate plumbing facilities.
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the National Congress of American Indians does hereby urge Congress to support the proposal to expand the annual Low Income Housing Tax Credit Program allocation by 50%; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, given the enormous needs for housing, the NCAI strongly supports the creation of a set-aside of 5% of the LIHTC for tribal governments to ensure that the needs of their citizen are met; and
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that this resolution shall be the policy of NCAI until it is withdrawn or modified by subsequent resolution.
CERTIFICATION
The foregoing resolution was adopted by the General Assembly at the 2016 Midyear Session of the National Congress of American Indians, held at the Spokane Convention Center, June 27 to June 30, 2016, with a quorum present.