Late yesterday, the Senate advanced a motion to proceed (87-8) on the House- and Senate-approved compromise version of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, with the Senate planning to hold a final vote on the bill this week.

Go Deeper: To read the section-by-section breakdown, click here.

The Senate text includes the following provisions also in the House version:

  • Increases the public welfare investment (PWI) cap from 15 to 20 percent (Sec. 203) and requires the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Reserve Board of Governors to submit a report to Congress on the use of PWIs.
  • Build to rent housing is excepted from the institutional investor ban (Sec. 1001);
  • Build America, Buy America (BABA) provisions requiring HUD to review the implementation of BABA requirements for HOME funds and issue updated guidance (Sec. 205).
    • Note: This BABA language only applies to the HOME program and does not address the need for BABA reform in other HUD or USDA housing programs.
  • Streamlines NEPA reviews for small and infill housing projects (Secs. 103, 205, 802)

Provisions newly added to the Senate version include:

  • Nine community banking deregulation bills insisted upon by Chair French Hill (R-AR) in the compromise (Sec. 901-909);
  • Authorization of the CDBG-DR program with a sunset in three years (Sec. 504);
    • Go Deeper: According to a Punchbowl News post on X, House Financial Service Chair French Hill (R-AR) dropped his opposition to the latest version of Senate text after the Senate agreed to sunset the CDBG-DR program after three years and Hill secured a series of banking deregulations.
  • Re-insertion of several Senate priorities, including:
    • Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) bill (Sec. 212), which would lift the RAD cap on housing authorities, but with a new limit of 100,000 units;
    • BUILD NOW Act (Sec. 213), which would incentivize communities to build more housing through the CDBG program;
    • Moving to Work bill (Sec. 505), which would aim to add a new cohort of MTW public housing agencies; and
    • VALID Act (Sec. 603), which would require Federal Housing Administration mortgage disclosures to include cost comparison information for veterans.

What They’re Saying: Leadership of the authorizing committees in the Senate (Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs) and House (Financial Services) released a joint statement in support of the bill.

What’s Next: Assuming Senate passage this week, the House will consider it after they return from recess on Tuesday, June 23.