The U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Financial Services (HFSC) reviewed and voted on several bills during a May 16 markup, including the bipartisan “Yes In My Back Yard (YIMBY) Act of 2023” (H.R.3507), which NLIHC has endorsed. NLIHC had urged the committee to move the YIMBY Act forward by joining a letter led by the National Apartment Association and sent the previous day, May 15.
Sponsored by Representatives Mike Flood (R-NE), Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO), Ralph Norman (R-SC), and Brittany Pettersen (D-CO), the YIMBY Act would increase transparency and encourage localities to build more affordable housing by requiring Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) recipients to report on and make plans to track discriminatory land-use policies. The legislation encourages pro-housing policies, such as re-zoning areas for high-density housing, allowing single-room occupancy development wherever multifamily housing is allowed, reducing minimum-lot-size requirements, allowing accessory dwelling units, and allowing the conversion of office units to apartments, among other provisions. Senators Todd Young (R-IN) and Brian Schatz (D-HI) introduced a bipartisan companion bill – the “Yes In My Backyard Act” (S.1688) – in the U.S. Senate in May 2023 (see Memo, 05/30/23).
The HFSC also voted to move forward the “HUD Evaluation and Optimization Commission Act of 2024” (H.R.8302), a bill NLIHC opposes. Introduced by Representative Warren Davidson (R-OH), the bill would create a bipartisan commission to review HUD’s existing programs and policies; however, it would require any recommendations proposed by the commission to be introduced as legislation and voted on without amendment and would also require a vote on the floors of the House and Senate, bypassing the normal procedure for considering and enacting legislation.
The committee also passed two other housing bills – the “Disabled Veterans Housing Support Act” (H.R.7480), introduced by Representative Monica De La Crus (R-TX), and the “Housing Unhoused Disabled Veterans Act” (H.R.8340), introduced by Representative Brad Sherman (D-CA). Both bills would exclude veterans’ disability compensation payments in calculating housing assistance for veterans.
Learn more about the bills and watch a recording of the markup here.