Debt Limit Extended Through Early December
This week, the House passed a short-term debt ceiling fix. President Biden has signed the bill into law, thus increasing the U.S. debt ceiling by $480 billion and preventing a default through December 3rd. This final passage concludes activity from last week, which the Senate approved a short-term debt ceiling. Congress and the White House must now pass a longer extension before the December expiration.
Democratic Lawmakers Continue Pressing for Historic Affordable Housing Investments
This week, the White House and Democratic lawmakers continued negotiations for advancing President Biden’s signature domestic policy proposal, the Build Back Better Act. The House version of this bill includes historic funding (over $300 billion) for the affordable housing and community development programs. However, the Senate remains the barrier, as this funding is facing significant cuts and potential elimination. Key Democratic lawmakers continue public and private pressure to ensure vital housing funding is in the final package.
Specifically, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), Chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee (HFSC) sent a letter signed by HFSC’s Democratic members to President Biden, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. The letter urges the inclusion of critical affordable housing investments in the final package, including over $300 billion in new and existing federal housing and community development programs. Several Democratic Senators are also advocating through similar letters. On October 21 (10 am), the HFSC Committee will hold hearing entitled, “A Strong Foundation: How Housing is the Key to Building Back a Better America” to continue to highlight the need for affordable housing. NAHMA, in addition to an industry-wide advocacy effort, will continue advocating for this historic funding (LIHTC Expansion, Increasing Rental Assistance, and key affordable housing programs, like the HOME program).
Key Financial Services Subcommittee Holds Hearing Examining Exclusionary Zoning
Today, the House Subcommittee on Housing, Community Development, and Insurance held a hearing entitled, “Zoned Out: Examining the Impact of Exclusionary Zoning on People, Resources, and Opportunity.” Witnesses testifying included: Sheryll D. Cashin, Carmack Waterhouse Professor of Law, Civil Rights and Social Justice, Georgetown University; Richard D. Kahlenberg, Senior Fellow, The Century Foundation; Dora Leong Gallo, President and CEO, A Community of Friends; and Thomas Silverstein, Associate Director of Fair Housing & Community Development Project, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.
According to the hearing’s Committee Memorandum, “The United States is in the midst of an affordable housing crisis of historic proportions where households across the income spectrum and in every community—including urban, suburban, and rural— are affected by an undersupply of housing, rising housing costs, housing instability, and homelessness. Over the years, research has shown how restrictive and exclusionary local zoning policies exacerbate these trends. Historically, zoning policies, among other local regulations and development practices, have been used to create and perpetuate racial and economic segregation…. While zoning reform has become an increasingly attractive tool for policymakers to address housing issues, it is not a silver bullet solution. Without proper analysis and safeguards, zoning reform is not guaranteed to ensure greater housing production, let alone increased supply that is more affordable or equitable. In order to effectuate holistic zoning reforms that result in both affordable and equitable outcomes in housing and community investments, some have urged that more national-level data on zoning and a federal oversight role may be needed.” The hearing also highlighted several pieces of housing legislation:
- H.R. 2126, “Housing Supply and Affordability Act”, legislation that would allow HUD to award grants for the development and implementation of housing plans, including zoning reforms.
- H.R. 2768, “American Housing and Economic Mobility Act”, legislation that would provide $10 billion in competitive grants to encourage local governments to eliminate zoning restrictions.
- H.R. 3198, “Yes In My Backyard Act”, legislation that would require Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) recipients to submit plans to track land use policies.
- H.R. 4497, “Housing Is Infrastructure Act”, legislation that would provide over $600 billion for fair, affordable, and accessible housing infrastructure, including $15 billion for competitive grants that are available to units of local government on a competitive basis to eliminate exclusionary, restrictive zoning and land uses, and to responsibly streamline development processes that advance fair housing and support the creation of affordable housing.
This Subcommittee hearing is available here.