June 24, 2025
Why Do Republicans Support the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit?
President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” aims to avert the tax increases that would result from the expiration of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, and it’s drawn criticism for not doing enough to reduce the debt or deficit. Earlier in June, The Washington Post reported on publicly funded homes in some cities costing taxpayers more than…
March 17, 2025
Trump Should Put an End to Rent Control
We are in a time when what would have seemed to be unimaginable domestic policy changes — from the abolition of the Department of Education to cutoffs of federal support for universities — are on the table. The Department of Housing and Urban Development is involved in this creative destruction — having pulled back a Biden-era program called Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing, which tied federal assistance for…
March 3, 2025
It’s Time for Time Limits on Public Housing
Like other Cabinet agencies, the Department of Housing and Urban Development is moving quickly to undo long-standing progressive policies. New HUD Secretary Scott Turner has asserted that the agency is now “DEI-free.” Perhaps even more significantly, the agency is considering implementing time limits and work requirements for tenants of public and subsidized housing. Although we should expect howls of protest from tenant…
January 24, 2024
Expanding Housing Supply with Light-Touch Density: City of Seattle Case Study
Executive Summary The formula for housing abundance is straightforward: Micro-managing this process won’t work. Planners need to get out of the way and let the market build more housing.
January 23, 2024
A Follow-Up on My Recent Testimony to the Joint Economic Committee on Policy Approaches to Increasing the Supply of Affordable Housing
In my recent testimony on affordable housing supply, I highlighted the superiority of markets over government solutions and pointed to the ineffectiveness of the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC), which offers generous tax credits for builders that rent units to tenants earning below 60% of area median income. During the hearing’s Q&A, I did not…
January 21, 2024
Portland’s Encampment Kids
I’m standing outside the Central Police Precinct in downtown Portland, Oregon. Officer Eli Arnold and I have bicycled over to meet two of his colleagues, returned from a drug bust. We examine the proceeds of the crime on the hood of a squad car. The officers weigh the fentanyl powder on a small scale, record…
January 17, 2024
Achieving Housing Abundance Through State and Local Land Use and Zoning Reform
Chair Heinrich and Vice Chair Schweikert, and distinguished Members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today. Executive Summary: Housing affordability issues are real for many Americans. As home prices and more recently mortgage rates have risen dramatically, many people can no longer afford to buy a home and have no choice…
January 17, 2024
Congress, Don’t Legislate a Takeover of the Nation’s Rental Housing Market
It is an election year and Congress will soon consider two bipartisan bills to address high rental costs for many renters. The first is the Workforce Housing Tax Credit (WFHTC) and the second would be an expansion of the existing Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC). The WFHTC would extend eligibility for subsidized units tenants earning below the area median….