PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Mar 7, 2017
Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act of 2017
This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to the low-income housing credit, to rename the credit "the affordable housing credit" and make several modifications to the credit.
The bill increases state allocations for the credit and modifies the cost-of-living adjustments. It also revises tenant eligibility requirements, with respect to:
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
the average income test,
income eligibility for rural projects,
increased tenant income,
student occupancy rules, and
tenant voucher payments that are taken into account as rent.
The bill revises various requirements to:
establish a 4% minimum credit rate for certain projects,
permit relocation costs to be taken into account as rehabilitation expenditures,
repeal the qualified census tract population cap,
require housing credit agencies to make certain determinations regarding community revitalization plans,
prohibit local approval and contribution requirements,
increase the credit for certain projects designated to serve extremely low-income households,
increase the credit for certain bond-financed projects designated by state agencies,
increase the population cap for difficult development areas, and
eliminate the basis reduction for affordable housing properties that are allowed the credit and receive certain energy-related tax credits and deductions.
The bill also modifies requirements regarding the reconstruction or replacement period after a casualty loss, rights related to building purchases, the prohibition on claiming acquisition credits for properties placed in service in the previous 10 years, foreclosures, and projects that assist Native Americans.
People & committees
Sen. Cantwell, Maria [D-WA] · D–WA
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Introduced in Senate
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.
Source last updated: Aug 11, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Analyze S.548 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
Examine S.548 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
Examine S.548 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
Examine S.548 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.