Representative Maxine Waters’ Amendments to Protect Emergency Vouchers and Housing Investments in Republican Reconciliation Bill Introduced but Not Adopted

By Kayla Blackwell, NLIHC Housing Policy Analyst & Kayla Springer, NLIHC Policy Intern 

On July 2, Representative Maxine Waters (D-CA), House Financial Services Committee Ranking Member, introduced six amendments to the budget reconciliation bill, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (H.R. 1, “OBBBA”), including two amendments that would have protected emergency vouchers and expanded affordable housing funding nationwide. The reconciliation bill, which President Trump signed into law on July 4, makes massive cuts to critical funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Medicaid. Both SNAP and Medicaid play a crucial role in economic stability for people and families with low incomes, helping them put food on the table and receive needed medical care.  

Representative Waters attempted to incorporate two amendments into the bill that would protect funding for energy-efficient upgrades in multifamily housing. In addition to the energy-efficiency funding, the amendments included provisions to fund emergency vouchers and expanded investments in affordable housing. Specifically: 

• One amendment would have maintained funding for the nearly 60,000 expiring Emergency Housing Vouchers (EHVs). The EHV program, created as part of the COVID-19 relief bill, the “American Rescue Plan Act of 2021,” provides emergency vouchers for housing-unstable households, including people at risk of or experiencing homelessness and people fleeing intimate partner violence or human trafficking. Without additional funding, the EHV program is set to run out of funds. 
• The other amendment would have inserted Representative Waters’ “Housing Crisis Response Act” (H.R.4233) into the reconciliation bill, which would provide over $150 billion in new housing investment. NLIHC endorsed the “Housing Crisis Response Act,” which would allocate $15 billion to the National Housing Trust Fund. 

The other four amendments would have prevented presidential abuse of power, prohibiting government officials from profiting from federal defense funding. The Waters amendments proposed removing provisions of the reconciliation bill that would reduce funding for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) by 46%. None of Representative Waters’ amendments were approved by the Republican-led House Rules Committee and therefore, the amendments will not be subject to further debate.  

Read the press release on Representative Waters’ amendments here.