Congress

Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN) introduced the Homes for All Act of 2019, which will dramatically expand the public housing stock in the U.S. and guarantee housing as a human right. The bill will authorize construction of 12 million new public housing and private, permanently affordable rental units.

House Committee on Financial Services Chairwoman Maxine Waters (D-CA) and Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) introduced the Housing is Infrastructure Act of 2019 (H.R. 5187/S. 2951). The bills contain the following investments in housing:

On November 19, the House of Representatives voted 231-192 on H.R. 3055 to approve a continuing resolution (CR) that would fund the federal government through December 20. The new CR maintains an important adjustment for the Section 202 Housing for the Elderly program that will prevent renewal delays for Project Rental Assistance Contracts set to […]

Representatives Jim Clyburn (D-SC), Alma Adams (D-NC) and Lacy Clay (D-MO) introduced the Opportunity Zone Reform Act (H.R. 5042) which would eliminate Opportunity Zones that are not low-income and allow states to replace those zones with ones that are low-income as defined by the New Markets Tax Credit. The bill also would prohibit investments in […]

Representative Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) sent a letter to the chairmen of the House Committee on Ways and Means, Committee on Oversight and Reform Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy, and the Committee on Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations to request an investigative hearing on whether political contributions influenced the designation of opportunity zones in her district and across the country.

Representatives Hank Johnson (D-GA) and Bobby Rush (D-IL) introduced H.R. 4999 which would require investments that benefit from the opportunity zones (OZs) incentive to reach certain benchmarks in diversity and affordable housing. The bill would require all qualified opportunity funds (QOFs) to have advisory boards for each OZ in which they invest.

Last week the Senate voted 84-9 to pass a four-bill FY 2020 spending package that includes funding for Agriculture, Commerce-Justice-Science, Interior-Environment and Transportation-HUD. The bill includes modest increases over FY 2019 funding levels for rental assistance programs but cuts funding for Choice Neighborhoods, Housing for Persons with AIDS, Indian Housing Block Grants and Community Development Block Grants.

The Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs will hold a hearing at 10:00 am ET on November 7 entitled “Examining Bipartisan Bills to Promote Affordable Housing Access and Safety.” The hearing will take place in Room 538 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building and via webcast. The witnesses are Ivory Mathews with Columbia […]

The Housing, Community Development, and Insurance Subcommittee of the House Financial Services Committee will hold a hearing on November 20 at 2:00 pm ET entitled, “Safe and Decent? Examining the Current State of Residents’ Health and Safety in HUD Housing.” The hearing will be in Room 2128 of the Rayburn House Office Building and will […]

Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), an original sponsor of Opportunity Zone legislation, and Reps. Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO) and Ron Kind (D-WI) sent a letter to the Treasury’s acting inspector general to requesting an investigation into recent reports from The New York Times, The Washington Post and ProPublica that found that White House and Treasury officials might […]

The Senate is expected to vote on the four-bill spending package today and lawmakers are now considering a not-so-short-term CR that would fund the government through the new year.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) released the 2019 Strategic Plan for the Conservatorships of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and a new 2020 Scorecard for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Common Securitization Solutions.