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A new paper recently published by The Brookings Institution looked at how hospitals and schools can play a major role in helping to enhance health and long-term economic mobility in a community. According to the authors, policymakers have become increasingly aware in recent years that achieving good health and economic vitality in neighborhoods requires the close collaboration of a variety of sectors, including housing, education, and social services.

New Yorkers are at risk of losing thousands of new, affordable housing units if state officials fail to provide $2 billion in housing funds that have been languishing since the state budget was passed on April 1. The $2 billion was promised in a memorandum of understanding (MOU), but the governor and state legislative leaders have been unable to reach an agreement to allocate the housing funds.

The IRS recently published Revenue Procedure 2016-55, which outlines the inflation adjustments for nearly 50 federal tax provisions, including the amount of Low Income Housing Tax Credit (Housing Credit) authority and Private Activity Bond (PAB) authority each state will receive.

For calendar year 2017, the state Housing Credit ceiling will be the greater of $2.35 multiplied by the state’s population or $2,710,000. While the per capita ceiling remained at the same level as in 2016, the minimum increased $20,000 in credits from its 2016 level of $2,690,000.

HUD recently published in the Federal Register its list of 2017 Difficult Development Areas (DDAs) and Qualified Census Tracts (QCTs), which are used in the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program. HUD designates DDAs and QCTs each year. DDAs are areas with high development costs relative to incomes. QCTs are census tracts with a poverty rate of at least 25 percent or in which 50 percent of the households have incomes below 60 percent of area median income.

According to a recent blog post by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), the gap between rents and renter incomes grew in 2015, despite a rise in median household income and decline in poverty that year.

Rep. Charles Boustany, a Republican who is also the House Ways and Means Tax Policy Subcommittee Chairman, recently introduced a bill that would provide tax relief for victims of devastating storms and flooding that occurred in Louisiana this past August.

A number of national organizations are opposing or expressing concerns about the “Middle Income Housing Tax Credit Act of 2016” (S.3384), introduced by Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) in September. S.3384 would create a new federal tax credit to incentivize developers to build and preserve housing affordable to families earning 100 percent of the area median income (AMI) or below. It’s estimated the bill would cost $4.5 billion annually.

During a recent hearing, the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit considered legislative proposals to help consumers, particularly those with low incomes, gain more access to mainstream banking and credit services. One of the proposals discussed was the “Credit Access and Inclusion Act of 2015” (H.R. 4172) that would allow owners, including public housing authorities (PHAs), and utility and telecom companies to report on-time payment data to credit reporting agencies, not just negative payment data.

HUD recently published a final rule that formally recognizes harassment in fair housing law. The rule sets forth standards for evaluating claims of quid pro quo (“this for that”) harassment as well as hostile environment harassment in the context of housing.

In a recent op-ed published by the New York Times, presidential candidate Hillary Clinton discussed her plans for combatting family poverty. With 11.4 million households spending more than half their monthly income on rent, Clinton plans to expand the Low Income Housing Tax Credit to increase the supply of affordable housing and fuel broader community development.