Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Holds Hearing on Bipartisan Bills to Increase Access to Housing

The Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee (BHUA) held a June 25 hearing on “Examining Bipartisan Bills to Increase Access to Housing.” The hearing address numerous bipartisan bills that will be or have been introduced to increase access to housing, including bills related to mobility housing vouchers for families, the creation of an eviction database and stabilization fund, expansion of the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) to better serve rural and Native American communities, and more.

Witnesses included Lisa Mensah, president and CEO of the Opportunity Finance Network; Nan Roman, president and CEO of the National Alliance to End Homelessness and NLIHC board member; and Howard Husock, American Enterprise Institute adjunct fellow and contributing editor at City Journal and the Manhattan Institute.

Chairman Sherrod Brown (D-OH) spoke to witnesses and members on the reintroduction of the “Eviction Crisis Act,” a bipartisan bill introduced by the Chairman and Senators Michael Bennet (D-CO), Rob Portman (R-OH), and Todd Young (R-IN). The Eviction Crisis Act would create new tools to help end the nation’s eviction epidemic. This includes the creation of an emergency assistance fund to test, evaluate, and expand proven interventions to help low-income households facing housing instability due to an unexpected economic shock.

This policy solution was developed and championed by NLIHC’s Opportunity Starts at Home campaign and in a statement in support of the legislation, Nan Roman stated “Every day, people become homeless who not long ago had a stable home, but whose lives and housing were disrupted by an economic crisis that a small amount of money could have fixed. Thanks to Senators Bennet and Portman for this legislation that would make such help available, preventing housing instability and homelessness and improving the lives of struggling Americans.” Chairman Brown and Nan Roman discussed the importance of this bill in better understanding solutions to ending homelessness, specific vulnerabilities that individuals who are homeless have, and getting people the resources they need.

Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) and Tina Smith (D-MN) spoke on the “Native American Rural Homeownership Act,” bipartisan legislation introduced by Senator Smith and Senator Mike Rounds (R-SD). This bill would expand an existing USDA Pilot, in which the USDA has partnered with Native CDFIs to leverage their deep ties in local communities and deploy loans to eligible Native borrowers. Lisa Mensah spoke to the importance of expanding CDFIs to better assist rural and native American communities become homeowners. Lisa Mensah also supported Congress to review how CDFIs can help with small mortgage loans.

Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) briefly spoke on the bipartisan bill, the “Lead-Safe Housing for Kids Act,” which was introduced by Senator Scott and Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL). This bill ensures that families and children living in federally assisted housing are protected from the devastating consequences of lead poisoning. NLIHC supports this legislation as part of the HoUSed Campaign. Senator Scott also spoke to the shortfall of competition in the housing finance market and the need for better reform in the housing finance system.

Senator Van Hollen (D-MD) spoke on the reintroduction of the “Family Stability and Opportunity Vouchers Act,” a bipartisan bill that was co-introduced with Senator Todd Young (R-IN). This bill would create an additional 500,000 housing vouchers specifically designed for low-income families with young children to expand access to neighborhoods of opportunity with high-performing schools, strong job prospects, and other resources. The legislation would largely eliminate homelessness among families with young children, as well as substantially reduce the number of children growing up in areas of concentrated poverty. The policy solution has been championed by NLIHC’s Opportunity Starts at Home campaign, which worked with the bill’s sponsors to shape the legislation. Nan Roman voiced support of the bill and the high impact it can have on ending family homelessness.

Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) spoke to the need for Congress to come together in addressing the housing crisis. “We need a bipartisan commitment to take on our nation’s housing needs headfirst, not just nibble around the edges. . . . Housing is essential infrastructure. Senator Warren also spoke to the need for increases to the investments in the current public housing stock. “We need more than 70 billion dollars just to make public housing safe for the residents who are there. And we are not even talking about the investments that we need to make to upgrade public housing to withstand the impact of climate change and to incorporate energy-efficient updates, [$70 billion] is just to maintain where we are now, to maintain this critical source of housing available to us.” Both Nan Roman and Lisa Mensah addressed the poor state of many of the homes in public housing. Lisa Mensah added that CDFIs are ready to be partners in making homes greener and healthier.

Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) spoke about a bipartisan bill to strengthen the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) which was reintroduced with Senator Susan Collins (R-ME). This bill would continue the funding of USICH indefinitely.

Watch the full hearing and read witness’ testimonies, and related legislation at: https://bit.ly/2UtVlfA

Learn more about NLIHC’s HoUSed Campaign legislative priorities at: https://bit.ly/3x0p5z2

Learn more about NLIHC’s Opportunity Starts at Home campaign at: www.opportunityhome.org