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Young discusses need for affordable housing during statewide tour

Todd Young speaks while seated in front of a sign that reads "Housing Affordability Tour." Young is a White man with dark, slightly graying hair.
Brandon Smith
/
IPB News
U.S. Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.) discusses his affordable housing proposals at a meeting with the Indiana Association of Realtors on Wednesday, June 28, 2023.

U.S. Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.) said housing affordability is a major impediment as communities and companies try to match workers with available jobs.

Young is traveling the state this week, discussing his proposals to expand affordable housing.

Much of the legislation Young proposes is aimed at lower-income housing and neighborhoods. That includes the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act, a measure to expand the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program.

Young called that tax credit the “pre-eminent mechanism” to getting affordable workforce housing built.

“Most people who live in Low-Income Housing Tax Credit homes have jobs, Young said. "They're trying to support families.”

READ MORE: Affordable housing increasingly out of reach for average Indiana renter

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Young said the need for housing also goes beyond younger people in the workforce. He said it’s a growing concern for older Hoosiers who want the choice to “age in place.”

“This is why we've got to bring more housing stock in the market – to lower rents, lower mortgage payments,” Young said.

One of Young's bills, the Neighborhood Homes Investment Act, aims to revitalize distressed neighborhoods. The senator's office estimates it would help nearly 9,600 homes across Indiana by providing a tax credit to cover the excess cost of building or renovating homes – while also putting a cap on the price of those homes.

All of Young’s housing affordability proposals have bipartisan support.

Brandon is our Statehouse bureau chief. Contact him at bsmith@ipbs.org or follow him on Twitter at @brandonjsmith5.

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Brandon Smith has covered the Statehouse for Indiana Public Broadcasting for more than a decade, spanning three governors and a dozen legislative sessions. He's also the host of Indiana Week in Review, a weekly political and policy discussion program seen and heard across the state. He previously worked at KBIA in Columbia, Missouri and WSPY in Plano, Illinois. His first job in radio was in another state capitol - Jefferson City, Missouri - as a reporter for three stations around the Show-Me State.