HFSC Ranking Member Maxine Waters Calls for Conference on “21st Century ROAD to Housing Act”

By Kim Johnson, NLIHC Senior Director of Policy  

House Financial Services Committee (HFSC) Ranking Member Maxine Waters (D-CA) sent a letter on March 22 to the House Democratic Caucus, calling on the House and Senate to hold a conference committee “to further improve and strengthen” the “21st Century ROAD to Housing Act” (H.R.6644/S.Amdt.4308), a bipartisan housing supply package that passed the Senate on March 12 with overwhelming bipartisan support. 

A conference committee is a temporary panel made up of members of the House and Senate that comes together to reconcile differences in legislation. Conference committees are charged with resolving differences between bills passed in the House and Senate, with the goal of finding a compromise that can pass both chambers. Both the House and Senate must agree to a conference for a committee to be created.  

“I appreciate the work of our Senate colleagues and have been clear in my support of their legislation. Unfortunately, the Senate removed several critical housing and banking provisions that House Democrats fought hard to include [in the “Housing for the 21st Century Act”] and that make the legislation stronger,” stated Ranking Member Waters. “Additionally, we need to address stakeholder concerns that have been raised since passage in the Senate, especially about whether the bill now curtails the construction of new homes and creates other unintended consequences. Given these changes, we must reconcile the House and Senate versions to produce the strongest possible housing legislation for our communities at home.”  

The Ranking Member included a list of 33 changes HFSC Democrats are requesting to the Senate-passed bill. These changes include proposals NLIHC supports, like the “Housing Supply Frameworks Act” (H.R.2840/S.1299), which would direct HUD to develop and publish best practices for state and local zoning frameworks, and the “Eviction Helpline Act” (H.R.5889), which would require HUD to create a hotline for residents of federally-assisted rental housing to access eviction-related assistance. HFSC Democrats are also requesting the removal of provisions allowing for an expansion of the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) and Moving to Work (MTW) programs. NLIHC has opposed the expansion of these programs without additional evaluation of their impact on residents and would support the removal of these provisions. HFSC Chair French Hill (R-AR) has not called for a conference but said in an earlier statement that the Senate’s unified package does not sufficiently represent the interests of House Republicans.  

Take Action!  

As conversations continue over the “21st Century ROAD to Housing Act,” NLIHC is calling on members of Congress to ensure our 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 the 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!