Travois hosted an educational briefing for Congressional staff on Friday, July 10 to highlight the affordable housing and economic development challenges facing tribes in today’s economy.
David Bland, chairman of Travois, was joined on the panel by Dallas Massey, the executive director of the White Mountain Apache Housing Authority and a former chairman of the White Mountain Apache Tribe; James Horvick, a vice president for acquisitions at Raymond James Tax Credit Funds; and Phil Glynn, director of Travois New Markets.
The group discussed their successes with the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) and the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) programs — while also mentioning the need for “tweaks” to improve the utility of both.
Massey emphasized the great need for affordable housing on his reservation and the inability of the Native American Housing and Self-Determination Act funding to fully meet the needs of tribes. He also encouraged attendees to support the HEARTH Act (proposed by Congressman Martin Heinreich, D-NM) to improve the leasing and Title Status Report process on reservations.
Horvick affirmed the demand for LIHTCs and NMTCs among the investment community and encouraged staff to take tribes into consideration when considering the Community Reinvestment Act modernization legislation.
Glynn discussed how the NMTC program can provide much needed funding for economic development on reservations. He encouraged the group to increase the utility of the NMTC program by allowing federal agency grant funding to be leveraged in the NMTC structure.
Participants included representatives of Senator Begich (D-AK), Senator Tester (D-MT), Senator Mark Udall (D-CO), the House Majority Leader, and representatives of congressmen and women from Arizona, Connecticut, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Louisiana, Maine, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, South Dakota, Texas, and the House Office of Indian Affairs.
Representatives of the National American Indian Housing Council and National Council of State Housing Authorities also attended.
Contact Elizabeth Glynn, Travois Director of Strategic Partnerships, at elizabeth@travois.com or 816-268-1283 with any questions.
Photos from the event:
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Pictured left to right: David Bland, chairman of Travois; Dallas Massey, executive director of the White Mountain Apache Housing Authority; Phil Glynn, director of Travois New Markets. Bottom: Dallas Massey; James Horvick, vice president for acquisitions at Raymond James Tax Credit Funds.