The House approved the Housing for the 21st Century Act with strong bipartisan support (390–9). The bill includes many provisions supported by NH&RA:
- Increasing the public welfare investment limits for national banks and Federal Reserve member banks from 15 to 20 percent;
- Reauthorization of the HOME program with the following changes:
- Provides categorical exemptions for certain projects from NEPA environmental reviews; and
- Creates a “small project” exemption from Section 3 of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968;
- Streamlining of NEPA and HUD environmental review provisions, which will reduce delays for small, infill, and HUD-assisted housing projects; and
- Directs HUD to review implementation of BABA within six months and requires Secretary Turner to issue updated guidance clarifying the application of BABA no later than three months after completion of the review.
- Unfortunately, provisions to exempt HOME funds from BABA requirements were not included in this updated version of the bill.
What They’re Saying: House Republican and Committee on Financial Services leadership released statements celebrating passage. Chair of the Housing and Insurance Subcommittee, Mike Flood (R-NE), also shared a video on LinkedIn.
What’s Next: The Bipartisan Policy Center shared a resource that compares this bill with the Senate’s ROAD to Housing bills to highlight the overlap as well as key differences that will need to reconciled in the House-Senate conference process.
- Key Points: The Senate’s ROAD to Housing also includes the PWI provision and reauthorizes HOME without program changes, but does not address BABA.
Where’s the White House? Following passage, President Trump and Office of Management and Budget issued a statement expressing support while urging continued work with Congress to include a ban on large institutional investors purchasing single-family homes.
