Housing policy is taking center stage in the 2020 election With home prices having long since surpassed their pre-financial crisis peaks, many Americans can?t afford to buy a house. And in urban areas, where jobs are often concentrated, Americans are struggling to make rent.
The affordable housing crisis is squeezing the middle class and the poor alike. And while the Trump administration has targeted rental-assistance and public housing programs for drastic cuts, putting low-income Americans at risk of eviction, Democratic presidential primary candidates have made housing policy a major issue in the 2020 election. Many have already released plans or proposed legislation to address it, most notably Senators Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, and Cory Booker. Curbed will follow where the candidates stand on housing issues throughout the election and update this post as candidates? positions shift or they propose new ideas. While all 23 candidates have not released housing plans at the time of publication, we?ll provide information on the ones that have.
Renters tax credit
A renters tax credit would give taxpayers a credit for the amount they pay in rent above 30 percent of their income. So, if you paid $15,000 in rent in a year and 30 percent of your income was $10,000, you?d get $5,000 from the federal government in the form of a tax credit.
This idea was introduced in legislation proposed by Senator Cory Booker and Senator Kamala Harris in 2018, and it?s in former HUD s...