Bipartisan Housing Supply Bill Moves to House After Passing Senate with Overwhelming Support, But Faces Uncertain Future

By Kim Johnson, NLIHC Senior Director of Policy  

The Senate passed on March 12 the “21st Century ROAD to Housing Act” (S.Amdt.4308), a unified, bipartisan housing supply package, by a vote of 89-10. The bill, led by Senate Banking Committee Chair Tim Scott (R-SC) and Ranking Member Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), includes most of the provisions from the Senate’s “ROAD to Housing Act” (S.2651), and six provisions from the House’s “Housing for the 21st Century Act” (H.R.6644). If enacted, it would be the largest bipartisan housing supply bill passed by Congress in decades.   

Despite overwhelming bipartisan support in the Senate and the White House’s backing, the “21st Century ROAD to Housing Act” faces an uncertain future in the House. House Financial Services Committee (HFSC) Chair French Hill (R-AR) said in an earlier statement that the Senate’s unified package does not sufficiently represent the interests of House Republicans; any changes would require the bill to return to the Senate for another round of voting.  

Still, with overwhelming support for the bipartisan “Housing for the 21st Century Act,” introduced by HFSC Chair Hill and Ranking Member Maxine Waters (D-CA), which passed the House in February by a vote of 390-9 (see The Connection, 2/13), there may be sufficient support to pass the unified bill in the chamber. However, it is not clear when or how House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) will move the bill forward. Moreover, President Donald Trump said on March 18 that he would not sign bills into law until the “Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act” (H.R. 7296), a voter disenfranchisement bill that NLIHC strongly opposes, is passed. 

Take Action!  

As the “21st Century ROAD to Housing Act” advances, NLIHC is calling on members of Congress to ensure NLIHC’s priorities remain in any final bill, including:  

• The “Reforming Disaster Recovery Act,” which contains critical reforms proposed by NLIHC’s Disaster Housing Recovery, Research, and Resilience Coalition (DHRC) to help ensure the federal government’s long-term disaster recovery program, HUD’s Community Development Block Grant–Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) program, better serves disaster survivors and disaster-impacted communities with the lowest incomes. 

• The “Rural Housing Service Reform Act,” which would help preserve affordable rental and homeownership opportunities for low-income people and families living in rural areas, cut red tape, and encourage public-private partnerships to increase investment in the country’s rural housing supply. Importantly, by decoupling rental assistance from maturing mortgages, the bill would help preserve affordable housing in rural areas and maintain housing access for 400,000 rural families. 

• Two provisions from the “Choice in Affordable Housing Act” related to streamlining inspections for the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program to make it faster and easier for HCV recipients to access housing in communities of their choice.  

The bill includes additional provisions NLIHC supports, including the “Incentivizing Local Solutions to Homelessness Act,” which would allow for greater flexibility in how communities can use Emergency Solutions Grant funding to address the needs of people experiencing unsheltered homelessness, and the “Housing Unhoused Disabled Veterans Act,” which would help more veterans experiencing homelessness access housing opportunities through the HUD-Veteran Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) program. These policies will help ensure that federal programs better meet the needs of families, people, and communities with the lowest incomes.  

Use NLIHC’s Take Action page to contact your members of Congress and urge them to include these vital policies in any final bill!