Music City convention: Advocacy needed for important housing programs

Nashville was a hit! Last week was the AMERIND Risk | NAIHC Annual Convention & Trade Show in Nashville, and Travois was happy to support the conference as an Onyx sponsor.

During the three-day conference, our Travois industry professionals led sessions explaining the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program and the Affordable Housing Program (AHP), provided client case studies, and instructed on compliance inspections and Fair Housing practices.

In the opening session on Tuesday, Ashley Bland had the privilege of addressing the convention attendees and voiced the need for all to advocate for NAHASDA and the tax credit industry. If you missed it, the speech is below:

We’re all here this week to learn more about affordable housing and to bring that momentum and inspiration back to our colleagues at home. While we’re hard at work here, lawmakers in Washington, DC, are about to embark on legislation which may affect a critical resource for affordable housing: the Low Income Housing Tax Credit program.

After healthcare, tax reform is next on the agenda. While support for the affordable housing program is strong and bipartisan, President Trump’s “skinny budget” calls for dramatic cuts to many housing programs including to programs affecting Indian Country. We need to make sure our representatives know how important these programs are to our tribal communities.

The best way to talk to lawmakers is in person, but it’s not always easy to travel to DC. Your next best option is to call your congressperson’s office (either local or DC).

To show you how easy it is I’m going to call my senator right now and tell his staff how important the LIHTC program is to affordable housing and encourage him to protect it in any tax reform legislation.

You can too by dialing the Capitol switchboard number that allows you to type in your zip code and get connected to your reps: 1-202-224-3121.

Please take a moment now or later today to call and do the same. Staffers track the topics they are called about and give a report to the lawmakers at the end of the week.

This is a good way to keep our priorities in front of lawmakers. That number again is 1-202-224-3121.

Thank you for all you do for affordable housing.

 

See how easy that is? No one says you only have to call about housing. Having a bad day? Call your rep and tell him why. Need to vent? Give your friend a break and call your congressperson! For more information, visit our website.

We enjoyed seeing everyone in Nashville, and we hope to see you at the 18th Annual Travois Conference, on April 9-11, 2018, in Marina del Rey, CA.