Apartment Trends Magazine September 2020 | Page 37

Like many of her fellow presidential candidates,
including Biden, Harris supported the creation of
a renters’ tax credit that would subsidize housing
costs for renters who spend more than 30 percent of
their income on housing. This tax credit fails to offer
a solution to the nation’s housing shortage. It also
could incentivize bad actors to raise housing costs,
thus deepening the affordability crisis. Instead, the
campaign’s attention should refocus on means-tested
programs that help those most in need.
The lack of available and affordable housing is not
lost on either member of the ticket. In Biden’s original
housing plan, he provides for a $100 billion Affordable
Housing Fund that will seek to fill in the housing gap.
In 2019, Harris and Congresswoman Maxine Waters
introduced the Housing is Infrastructure Act (H.R. 5187) that
unleashed billions into various housing opportunities. The
bill would make $10 billion of Community Development Block
Grant (CDBG) funding to states and cities contingent on
demonstrating a reduction in barriers to housing development.
Amongst other provisions, the bill would also invest $5 billion
into the Housing Trust Fund (HTF) to help leverage greater
private capital for housing projects.
Housing was not the centerpiece issue of Harris’ presidential
campaign, although her legislative history clearly shows that
she has a commitment to effecting change in the housing space.
Biden has also demonstrated that he is willing to let the policies
of his former fellow candidates influence his own campaign’s
platform. His pledge to not run for a second term should his
age or health not permit has shined an even brighter spotlight
on Harris as the Democratic heir apparent. The question is
whether she will continue the Obama-Biden legacy or trailblaze
her own path to the presidency.
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SEPTEMBER 2020 TRENDS | 35