The House of Representatives passed on May 20 the latest amended “21st Century ROAD to Housing Act” (H.R.1299) with strong bipartisan support, and a final vote of 396-13. NLIHC thanks the House, and in particular House Financial Services Committee Chair French Hill (R-AR) and Ranking Member Maxine Waters (D-CA), for their continued work to address our nation’s affordable housing crisis.
The amended “21st Century ROAD to Housing Act” is a broad, bipartisan housing package aimed at addressing the national affordable housing shortage. The bill includes 56 provisions related to housing supply, manufactured housing, mortgage financing, rural housing, veteran housing, and community banking.
The bill includes several provisions that NLIHC supports, including the Rural Housing Service Reform Act, provisions from the Choice in Affordable Housing Act, and others (see Memo, 5/18). However, the House bill does not include the Reforming Disaster Recovery Act (RDRA), a top priority for NLIHC. The RDRA was included in the Senate’s bipartisan housing supply package, which passed the chamber in March (see Memo, 3/23).
While the House and Senate have now both passed amended versions of a bipartisan housing supply package, there are still differences between the two chambers’ bills. To enact the final bill, the Senate could pass the House bill as-is, or the two chambers could conference the bill, during which members of the House and Senate come together to reconcile the differences between the two bills and reach an agreement on the final text that would pass both chambers.
Take Action!
As Congress continues its work on a final bipartisan housing supply bill, NLIHC urges lawmakers to pass a housing package that includes provisions that serve renters with the greatest needs, 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.
- 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.
Use NLIHC’s Take Action page to contact your members of Congress and urge them to include these vital policies in any final bill!