Rep. Scott Wiggam, 77th Ohio House District — House Economic and Workforce Development Committee

Summary

Sponsor testimony on HB 547 by Representative Scott Wiggam, 77th Ohio House District, to the House Economic and Workforce Development Committee. The testimony says HB 33, the State Operating budget, allowed for $400 million in tax credits over four years for the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program. It says individuals unlawfully present in the United States can access low-income housing tax credit project housing, and that these funds should be available to citizens and lawful immigrants only. It says HB 547, if enacted, will ensure that, and that the Congressional Research Service report states there are no current federal noncitizen eligibility restrictions for LIHTC units.

Summary drafted by a model from the document's text below and checked by script against that text before publication. It is a navigation aid, not a reading of what the document proves. Where AI is used

Full text

                                            Rep. Scott Wiggam
                                        77th Ohio House District


Chairman Swearingen, Vice-Chair Santucci, Ranking Member Upchurch and Members of the
House Economic and Workforce Development Committee.

Thank you for allowing us the opportunity to present Sponsor testimony on HB 547.

HB 33, the State Operating budget for fiscal year 2024 and 2025, allowed for $400 million in tax
credits over four years for the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program.
Unfortunately, individuals unlawfully present in the United States can access low-income
housing tax credit project housing therefore leaving lawful residents in need of low-income
housing opportunities. These funds should be available to citizens and lawful immigrants only,
and HB 547 if enacted will ensure just that.

According to the Congressional Research Service in a report prepared for Committees and
Members of Congress on January 23, 2023, “…there are no current federal noncitizen eligibility
restrictions for LIHTC units.” Furthermore, the same report states, “While there are no federal
restrictions to noncitizen eligibility, individual LIHTC property owners and managers may elect
to require that tenants provide proof of legal residency in the United States…”. 1 My office has
provided this report to the committee for your review, and it can also be found in the footnotes of
my testimony.

The Central Ohio region is on track to reach 3.15 million residents by 2050, and according to a
report commissioned by the Building Industry Association (BIA) of Central Ohio, housing
projects must increase by almost double to meet these projections.2 The report continues to say
Central Ohio needs to be building 14,000-19,000 apartments every year to keep up with demand.

All of this goes to say that as Ohio grows lawful citizens need to be a priority. Low-income
housing should be available to citizens and lawful immigrants of Ohio, not illegal immigrants.
Money our state appropriates should be for the people who pay taxes, and this legislation is a
first step of many to make sure that stays true.



1
    Page 15 https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R46462
2
    https://www.morpc.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Population_Growth_Forecast_2024-50.pdf
Thank you once again for the opportunity to provide testimony on this important legislation, and
I will now pass the microphone to my joint sponsor Representative Gross.


File and source

File

2024-06-18_econ-workforce-dev_testimony_testimony-12424.pdf

Size

156,304 bytes

SHA-256

46d2e8614a5abf42cafa0aa5e373f1abcca1be8d5707721951aa427d1cb3e3c8

Our copy

2024-06-18_econ-workforce-dev_testimony_testimony-12424.pdf

Original

No public link identified.