Liccardo’s Bipartisan Housing Reforms Head to President’s Desk

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, the House passed a revised 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, sending the most significant federal housing reform package in decades to the President's desk. The bipartisan legislation, designed to streamline development and make housing more affordable, includes four bills authored by Congressman Sam Liccardo (CA-16), the most by any Democratic freshman member.

"As long as we remain more than ten million homes short for both buyers and renters in the U.S., we cannot make housing more affordable without increasing supply," said Liccardo. "This legislation, which includes four of my bipartisan bills, will take important steps to cut red tape, lower costs, and boost the supply of housing, both market-rate and rent-restricted. While it gives me hope to see approval of this bipartisan legislation against deeply divisive political headwinds, we have much more work to do to address the housing crisis confronting millions of our families."

A rare success for a first-term member of the minority party in this deeply partisan Congress, Liccardo secured inclusion of four bipartisan bills in the final package, including two co-led with the Republican Chair of the Housing and Insurance Subcommittee, Congressman Mike Flood. Together, the provisions in the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act reflect growing agreement across party lines that solving America's housing shortage requires faster federal reviews, cutting red tape, smarter permitting, and policies that empower local communities to build.

In May, Liccardo took to the House Floor to urge his colleagues to vote for the bill's passage, telling the Speaker, "The rent is too damn high."

Liccardo's bills include:

• H.R. 4810 - Better Use of Intergovernmental and Local Development (BUILD) Housing Act: Eliminates procedural hurdles so communities can build affordable housing faster.
• H.R. 5591- Revitalizing Empty Structures Into Desirable Environments (RESIDE) Act: Creates a pilot program to help communities convert vacant and underutilized commercial and office buildings into affordable housing.
• H.R. 4660 - Unlocking Housing Supply Through Streamlined and Modernized Reviews Act: Streamlines environmental review processes for HUD-funded housing projects.
• H.R. 7792 - Property Improvement and Manufactured Housing Loan Modernization Act: Modernizes FHA loan limits and expands financing options for manufactured homes and accessory dwelling units (ADUs), to empower more homeowners to become home providers.