House Revenue Committee advances expansion of affordable-housing lenders tax credit to floor

The Oregon House Committee on Revenue voted May 27 to send House Bill 3236A to the House floor with a due-pass recommendation and a subsequent referral to the Joint Committee on Tax Expenditures.

The bill would expand an existing affordable-housing lenders tax credit so that two additional types of property or financing can qualify: qualified mortgage loan funds, and loans for preservation or rehabilitation of housing described as being in financial or physical distress. A committee presenter said both categories would remain part of the low-income housing tax credit framework.

The Legislative Revenue Office provided a fiscal summary for the committee. The LRO presentation says the structure of the credit effectively reduces the mortgage borrowing rate for qualifying loans, spreading the revenue effect over loans’ typical 20-year mortgage terms. The presenter told the committee that the revenue impact was “initially about $100,000 in 25–27” and increases in later biennia.

Vice Chair Walters moved the measure to the floor with a due-pass recommendation and referral to the Joint Committee on Tax Expenditures; the motion passed with no objections recorded.

Representative Marsh said the bill had already been reviewed by the House Housing and Homelessness Committee, which had found the policy “sound and important,” and that review informed the Revenue Committee’s decision to move the bill forward.

Next steps for HB 3236A are consideration on the House floor and review by the Joint Committee on Tax Expenditures as provided by the referral.