WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate passed a broad bill on Thursday to make U.S. housing more accessible and affordable, a rare bipartisan effort in Congress to address a growing national problem.
The bill, which passed 89-10, would reduce regulations, regulate corporate investors and expand how housing dollars can be used to build affordable homes and rentals. It will now head back to the House, which passed a similar bill earlier this year.
“We have a housing shortage all across America,” said Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who worked with Republicans to win overwhelming support from both parties for the legislation. “We need more housing of every kind. More housing for first-time home buyers, more housing for renters, more housing for seniors, more housing for people with disabilities, more rural housing, more urban housing, more, more, and more.”
The legislation, she said “will help drive down prices.”
Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott, R-S.C., led the effort with Warren. He said ahead of the vote that the Senate could “do what so many people failed to do in this legislative body for the last few decades, and that is pass consequential legislation that makes it easier to become a homeowner.”
Roadblocks ahead for the legislation
Despite the overwhelming bipartisan vote in the Senate, It’s unclear whether the House will pass the legislation again — or if President Donald Trump will sign it.
Trump has strongly backed the bill through the bipartisan negotiations, but he has also slowed its momentum with a declaration last weekend that he won’t sign any new measures unless Congress passes legislation that would require voters to show proof of citizenship and end most mail-in balloting.
The Senate is expected to begin consideration of that bill next week, but it is unlikely to pass as all Democrats oppose it.
At the same time, House leaders have indicated that they are unlikely to accept the Senate version and have suggested they could launch a formal conference process to negotiate a final deal between the chambers — a process that could take months.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said ahead of the bill’s passage that negotiations are a possibility, “but obviously the quickest way to do this would be to pick up the Senate bill and pass it.”
If the White House wants that to happen, he said, “they’ll probably have to make that argument to House leadership.”
Making housing more attainable
The bill would give local governments more power on housing issues, allow banks to invest more in affordable housing and lift limits on the number of units in a public housing development that can receive private financing through Section 8 funding that helps rehabilitate properties.
“You’ve got many provisions in this bill that stop treating the U.S. like one single housing market and start giving local leaders the tools they need to fix their unique regional puzzle,” said Peter Carroll with Cotality, a company that tracks housing data.
The bill aims to make homebuilding easier by streamlining some regulations that require environmental reviews and inspections. It also eliminates a limit on a grant for emergency shelter beds and street homelessness outreach.
