2020 candidate Castro targets affordability in housing plan

SAN ANTONIO – Former Obama housing secretary Julián Castro is drawing on that experience in his 2020 Democratic presidential campaign with calls for tax credits for low-income renters and ending veteran homelessness.

Castro’s housing plan released Monday hits close to his stint as secretary of Housing and Urban Development. He wants to expand federal housing vouchers into a “fully-funded entitlement program” that gives assistance to every eligible family.

The Congressional Budget Office says the current voucher program only serves about a quarter of the roughly 20 million households that qualify.

Castro also proposed a tax credit for tenants paying more than 30 per cent of their income on rent. Democratic Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, another 2020 presidential contender, has also called for tax credits for renters.