During the House of Representatives’ consideration of the six-year highway and transit bill (H.R. 22) on November 5, House Financial Services Committee Chair Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) offered an amendment that included a package of housing bills that the House has already passed, but the Senate has yet to consider. The amendment was adopted by a voice vote. The House approved H.R. 22 by a vote of 363-64.
Chair Hensarling’s amendment included the following bills:
- Tenant Income Verification Relief Act of 2015 (H.R. 233), sponsored introduced by Representative Ed Perlmutter (D-CO)
- Homes for Heroes Act of 2015 (H.R. 251), sponsored by Representative Al Green (D-TX)
- Housing Assistance Efficiency Act (H.R. 1047), sponsored by Representative Scott Peters (D-CA)
- Preservation Enhancement and Savings Opportunity Act of 2015 (H.R. 2482), sponsored by Representative Erik Paulsen (R-MN)
- Private Investment in Housing Act (H.R. 2997), sponsored by Representative Dennis Ross (R-FL)
These bills also are included the “Housing Opportunity through Modernization Act of 2015” (H.R. 3700), House Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance Chair Blaine Luetkemeyer’s (R-MO) broad housing assistance reform legislation, (See 10/13 Memo article: http://nlihc.org/article/broad-housing-assistance-reform-bill-introduced).
By being attached to a piece of “must pass” legislation, these bills now have a greater likelihood of becoming law. They will now be considered during conference committee negotiations on the House Highway bill and its Senate counterpart.
Read the text of the amendment at: http://amendments-rules.house.gov/amendments/MWB_680_xml113150916221622.pdf