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The Social Security Administration recently announced that monthly Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits for more than 65 million Americans will increase 0.3 percent in 2017. The 0.3 percent cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) will begin to Social Security beneficiaries in January 2017. And increased payments to more than 8 million SSI beneficiaries will begin on Dec. 30, 2016. The Social Security Act ties the annual COLA to the increase in the Consumer Price Index as determined by the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.

HUD recently published in the Federal Register the final rule implementing housing provisions under the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 (VAWA) as it applies to HUD programs. The rule codifies VAWA core protections across covered HUD programs to ensure individuals are not denied assistance, evicted, or have their assistance terminated because of their status as victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking, or for being affiliated with a victim.

From Oct. 6 to Oct. 11, as a result of Hurricane Matthew, President Obama and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) declared parts of South Carolina, North Carolina, Florida, and Georgia as major disaster areas. Among other federal assistance, these declarations make LIHTC and tax-exempt bond-financed sites in these areas eligible for relief under the Internal Revenue Code.

The IRS recently issued Revenue Procedure 2016-52, which publishes the amounts of unused housing credit carryovers allocated to qualified states under Section 42(h)(3)(D) of the Internal Revenue Code for calendar year 2016. This year, slightly more than $2.6 million in unused low-income housing tax credit carryovers were placed in the national pool and reallocated to 34 qualified states.

The amounts of national pool LIHTCs reallocated to states range from $8,151 for North Dakota to $416,376 for California. Sixteen states received no national pool allocations.

The White House recently released the “Housing Development Toolkit,” which highlights actions state and local jurisdictions can take to encourage housing development. The white paper argues that restrictive zoning contributes to high rents, exacerbates wealth inequality, and slows the U.S. economy.

A bill signed by Governor Jerry Brown will allow California school districts to use federal tax credits, as well as local and state funds, when leasing property for the development of affordable housing for teachers and other school district employees. “When high-quality teachers can’t afford to live where they work, the entire community suffers,” said bill author Senator Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, in a statement. “SB 1413 will help school districts directly address the housing affordability challenges facing teachers and reduce high turnover rates.”

In 2015, in Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs v. Inclusive Communities Project, Inc., the U.S. Supreme Court upheld “disparate impact” liability under the Fair Housing Act. Under this theory, a housing provider violates the Fair Housing Act when the provider’s policy or practice has an unjustified discriminatory effect, even when the provider had no intent to discriminate.

HUD recently released an Interim Report: Evaluation of HUD’s Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD), which found that “RAD has been extremely successful in attracting capital to help stabilize affordable housing developments.” The research, performed by Econometrica Inc., provided evidence that the program is on track to accomplish its goal of attracting substantial new capital to stabilize the physical and financial conditions of public housing properties, significantly improving housing conditions for low-income residents.

Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) recently released a discussion draft of legislation to create a new middle-income housing tax credit (MIHTC) program. The MIHTC discussion draft is a detailed legislative proposal, but it is not final. It’s being circulated to stakeholders, members of Congress, federal officials, and others for review and comment. The program is modeled after and is intended to work with the LIHTC program.

HUD recently issued new guidance confirming that persons with limited English proficiency (LEP) are protected under the Fair Housing Act (FHA). LEP includes a limited ability to read, write, speak, or understand English. The guidance reasons that LEP persons are covered by the FHA because of their close nexus with the protected class of national origin.