Reed Backs Bipartisan Bill to Lower Housing Costs & Increase Supply of Affordable Homes

WASHINGTON, DC - As Americans struggle with runaway costs for housing, construction, and household essentials, U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), a leading champion for affordable housing in Congress, today helped his colleagues in the Senate tee up the 21^st Century ROAD to Housing Act for final passage in an effort to lower housing costs and increase the supply of affordable homes for Americans.

By a vote of 84-8, the Senate agreed to end debate on revisions to the bipartisan bill, which have been negotiated with the House, setting up a vote on final passage in the Senate early next week.

The bipartisan bill, backed by Senator Reed, seeks to expand and preserve the supply of affordable homes and apartments, streamline costly and time-consuming regulations, increase homeownership, and lower housing costs. For the first time, the legislation would ban large investors from buying up hundreds or thousands of homes. Additional measures in the bill will enable homeowners to more easily and affordably revamp aging houses, make housing production programs more impactful, and help localities cut through red tape to bring down housing costs.

Senator Reed says that the updated text of the legislation incorporates priorities from both chambers of Congress as well as the executive branch, and reflects principled, bipartisan compromise to address the nation's housing affordability crisis.

"The 21^st Century ROAD to Housing Act is the result of years of bicameral and bipartisan work to address housing costs. This legislation is the most significant housing bill Congress has considered in nearly two decades. There is more we can do on affordable housing like my proposal to repurpose ICE's slush fund to build more housing, but as our nation grapples with an estimated shortage of approximately 5 million homes, it is imperative that we get it done," said Reed, the creator of the Housing Trust Fund who has delivered significant federal investments for Rhode Island to increase homeownership and build more homes. "This bill compliments the hundreds of millions of dollars in federal investments I have delivered for Rhode Island to increase the supply of affordable homes by smartly cutting through red tape and streamlining zoning and permitting requirements. I look forward to getting this bill across the finish line to help more Rhode Islanders afford a healthy and welcoming place to call home."

Senator Reed's bipartisan provisions featured in the bill include the Property Improvement and Manufactured Housing Loan Modernization Act (S.964) with Sen. Cynthia Lummis and the Helping More Families Save Act (S.970) with Sen. Katie Britt, as well as other key initiatives he championed as a member of the Senate Banking Committee.

The current median sale price of a house in Rhode Island is $500,000, according to the Rhode Island Association of Realtors.

Senator Reed praised the bipartisan leadership of Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott (R-SC) and Ranking Member Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and noted that the bill includes a range of different housing tools and solutions to address housing affordability.

The bipartisan measure has strong backing from a diverse coalition of stakeholder organizations across the country, including the U.S. Conference of Mayors; the National Association of Realtors; the National Low Income Housing Coalition; the National Alliance to End Homelessness; the National NeighborWorks Association; and Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC).

Once approved by the Senate, the House of Representatives must pass the bill and send it to the president's desk to be signed into law.

The text of the bill can be found here and a section-by-section summary of the legislation is here.

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