Carbajal-Backed Policies to Reduce Housing Costs Passes Congress

The bipartisan 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, which passed Congress on June 23rd, includes language from the Decent, Affordable, Safe Housing for All (DASH) Act. U.S. Representative Salud Carbajal (D-CA-24) co-led the introduction of the DASH Act with U.S. Representative Val Hoyle (D-OR-04) to make housing more affordable for working families and combat the rise of children and families experiencing homelessness.

The DASH Act, which is led by U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) in the Senate, addresses the lack of affordable quality housing through policies like creating a new down payment tax credit for first-time homebuyers, expanding and improving housing tax credits, incentivizing the construction of more affordable housing, and supporting families with children who are at risk of becoming homeless by improving services and access to housing vouchers.

"For many Central Coast families, housing is their biggest monthly expense. Whether they're renting or buying, housing costs have gotten out-of-control," said Rep. Carbajal. "I co-led the introduction of the DASH Act with Congresswoman Hoyle to lower costs for renters and first-time homebuyers, help those experiencing homelessness, and incentivize the construction of more housing units. I'm proud that language from the DASH Act passed Congress, and I'll keep working to get the rest of the legislation across the finish line."

Detailed provisions from the DASH Act included in the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act are below:

• Makes the Multi-Family Housing Preservation and Revitalization (MPR) program permanent, helping preserve and improve existing rural rental housing while keeping rents affordable for tenants.
• Expands access to rural housing vouchers so more low-income households can qualify when certain federally financed rural housing properties leave the program.
• Clarifies how rural housing voucher amounts are calculated to prevent ambiguity about what assistance people will receive.
• Allows property owners six months to reassign unused rental assistance to another eligible tenant. If it is not used during that time, the assistance is transferred to eligible families in other rural housing properties. This prevents assistance from disappearing and ensures it keeps serving rural low-income families somewhere else in the program.

Carbajal has long been a leader to bring down housing costs and address homelessness. Since 2021, Carbajal has worked with federal housing agencies to bring back more than half a billion in federal dollars to the Central Coast to lower housing costs.

In 2024, the Biden administration adopted Carbajal's Home for the Brave Act to improve veterans' access to housing assistance programs.

In April 2025, Carbajal co-introduced the Housing for All Act, a landmark bill that would provide ten years of new and increased funding for construction of new housing units, rental assistance, hotel and motel conversions, and more.

In June 2025, Carbajal introduced the American Dream for All Act to help first-time homebuyers purchase homes. The legislation would create a federal pilot program that provides down payment assistance loans to first-time homebuyers.

In August 2025, Carbajal introduced bipartisan legislation to unlock federal dollars for safe parking programs. Safe parking programs provide safe overnight parking locations for people experiencing homelessness and living in their vehicles as well as supportive services, like rapid rehousing services and facilities like restrooms and showers.