BOISE, ID – Housing affordability and availability are top issues for Americans across the nation, and Idaho is no different, U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Scott Turner said Tuesday.

Turner joined U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, and several state and city housing leaders at the Idaho Capitol in Boise to discuss the Gem State’s needs and challenges.

“Access to affordable housing is one of the most pervasive issues affecting both employees and employers across Idaho,” Crapo said in opening remarks. “It’s one of the top, if not the number one, issues that Idahoans raise with my staff and with me across the state.”

Media were not allowed to watch the round table discussion, which included Idaho Workforce Development Director Wendi Secrist, Idaho Department Health and Welfare Director Alex Adams, Idaho Housing and Finance Association Executive Director Gerald Hunter, Pacific Companies CEO Caleb Roope, Old Boise CEO Clay Carley, City of Boise Director of Housing and Homelessness Policy Nicki Hellenkamp and others from the private and public sectors.

The group met for about 30 minutes after which Crapo and Turner took media questions for around 10 minutes.

Crapo says housing was a top concern in Idaho in recent survey

Crapo said Tuesday that his office has been reviewing a housing survey conducted between March 31 and May 31, and noted affordability of housing emerged as a top issue.

Of the 5,000 Idahoans who responded, many said that local wages did not keep pace with escalating costs of housing, according to a summary of preliminary results from Crapo’s office. Specific numbers were not yet available, Crapo’s staff said.

The senator said in a later interview with the Idaho Capital Sun that the biggest complaints he is hearing across the state are that there isn’t enough supply and the costs are too high.

He highlighted the extension and expansion of the federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credit — which provides tax incentives for developers to build affordable housing units — in the major tax and spending bill Congress passed into law in July. The law permanently boosts the number of credits that will be available for qualifying projects through two types of credits provided in the program.

One credit program allows developers to write-off around 9% of their construction costs each year for 10 years — this number is capped for each state by a number determined by the Internal Revenue Service each year annually. The law increased each state’s allocation by 12%.

The program also offers a credit worth 4% of the project cost. While there is no cap on how many of these credits may be allocated per state, there was a requirement that half the project be paid for with a certain type of tax-exempt bond, called private activity bonds, which do have a cap. The bill lowered the bond requirement to 25% of the project.

“Using the tax code to incentivize the formation of capital around housing is another one of the objectives that we have all in an effort to try to reduce the biggest complaint that we’re picking up on our survey,” Crapo said, “which is the cost of housing and the ability to access affordability of housing.”

HUD secretary hopes to focus on deregulation, and ‘opportunity zones’ 

Turner, a former NFL player and Texas state lawmaker, said one of his priorities would be to reduce regulations as a way to reduce the cost of building housing. He cited his move to revoke the Biden-era Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule that was meant to tackle housing discrimination.

He said Tuesday that the rule “made Washington, (D.C.), really a national zoning board.”

Asked about safety codes and regulations, Scott said those would remain.

“When we talk about bringing out regulations, we talk about bringing down duplicative, burdensome things that cost developers and builders an exorbitant amount of money, which really can be a game changer, whether they do the project or not,” Turner said.

Crapo said he also supported reducing regulations on builders and that he would encourage local jurisdictions to do the same.

Turner also served in the first Trump administration heading up HUD’s “Opportunity Zone” program, which is an incentive program focused on “economically distressed communities.” Investments in these areas, which are nominated by state officials and certified by the IRS, are provided tax incentives.

Turner said he visited a food warehouse built in Twin Falls that was the first opportunity zone project in Idaho, according to Idaho News 6.

Turner said that 700 new housing units have been built inside opportunity zones in Idaho and 4,000 jobs have been created.

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which became the major tax and spending law, also made permanent the opportunity zone program.

Turner has ‘no concern at all’ about effect of proposed time-limits to housing assistance 

During Turner’s nomination hearing he argued that housing assistance, such as public housing or Section 8 vouchers, should have time limits, the Associated Press reported. Turner and the Trump administration have proposed a two-year limit on rental assistance programs for able-bodied adults.

There are 27,800 Idahoans who used federal rental assistance, according to a January 2025 fact sheet from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Of those who use the assistance, 24% are seniors, 30% are people who have a disability and 49% are people in families with children.

Research from New York University, as reported by the AP, found that the majority of Section 8 recipients who could lose housing would be those with children. 

Turner told reporters Tuesday “there’s no concern at all” that the proposed time limits will push families out of housing.

“Government subsidies were never meant to be a hammock,” Turner said. “They’re meant to be a trampoline.”

This story first appeared on Idaho Capital Sun.