Democrat’s new infrastructure proposal supports affordable housing investments
In response to President Trump’s campaign promise to invest in America’s infrastructure, Senate Democrats announced a $1 trillion infrastructure proposal this week to rebuild critical infrastructure and create jobs.
Among other initiatives centered on roads, bridges, airports, and energy, the plan includes a proposed $100 billion to “Revitalize America’s Main Streets,” which could be used to address housing challenges such as lead remediation and neighborhood revitalization, as well as expanding existing tax incentives and other affordable housing programs. Secondly, the plan proposes $10 billion to “close the infrastructure financing gap” with a new infrastructure entity that would provide seed money and leverage private investment over 10 years for projects across sectors, including affordable housing.
Dr. Carson awaits full Senate confirmation after Committee approval
The Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs on Tuesday voted unanimously to approve Dr. Ben Carson as Secretary of HUD. The full Senate is expected to vote on his nomination as early as next week.
Committee Chairman Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) said, “Dr. Carson has achieved a great deal of success during his impressive and accomplished career, and I was encouraged by his recent testimony before the Committee. He is committed to carrying forth the mandate of HUD and learning more from people directly affected by HUD policies. Now that his nomination has been voted favorably out of the Committee, it is my hope that the full senate will follow suit in a timely manner.”
Executive memorandum issues “regulatory freeze” for federal agencies
Last week, President Trump issued a ‘freeze’ on federal regulations, which halts new regulations, withdraws regulations that have yet to be published in the Federal Register, and postpones the effective date of regulations that have been published but not yet taken effect.
Although ordering a regulatory freeze is routine for incoming administrations, President Trump’s memorandum removes agency discretion while instituting the ‘freeze’ and applies to guidance documents as well as regulations. The impact on both HUD and USDA administered housing programs is still unclear, but information regarding recently published regulations is expected in the near the future.