Congress

Last week the House and Senate Appropriations Committees both voted Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 Transportation-Housing and Urban Development (T-HUD) appropriations bills out of committee.

House and Senate Appropriations Committees are racing to pass Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 funding ahead of the August recess and September 30 fiscal year end.

House Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO) released The American Families and Jobs Act, an opening salvo for a year-end tax package. The package focuses primarily on extensions of expired business-related tax credits from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.

Last week, Representatives Mike Kelly (R-PA) and Brian Higgins (D-NY) reintroduced the Neighborhood Homes Investment Act (H.R. 3940).

On the heels of the newly reintroduced Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act (S. 1557 / H.R. 3238), The ACTION Campaign sent a letter to Congress calling for cosponsors and seeking action on any future tax legislation.

President Joseph Biden (D) and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) released legislative text for a deal that would suspend the debt limit through Jan. 1, 2025, and place caps on federal spending for fiscal years 2024 and 2025.

Senators Todd Young (R-IN) and Brian Schatz (D-HI) reintroduced the Yes In My Backyard (YIMBY) Act, a bill aimed at removing discriminatory zoning policies and burdensome regulations that hinder housing and community development.

Last week, the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act was reintroduced in both the House and Senate as H.R. 3238 and S. 1557.

Last week, the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee held a hearing titled “Building Consensus to Address Housing Challenges” that covered a wide range of housing industry issues that make housing unaffordable, including LIHTC, zoning and land use regulation, Housing First strategies to ending homelessness, flood insurance and mortgage fees.

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) unveiled legislation that would create an interagency council, like the current U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH), to analyze and strengthen affordable housing in the U.S.

The House and Senate voted to rescind the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) rule via the congressional review act process.

The Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs held a nomination hearing for Dr. Jared Bernstein to be chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers and Solomon Greene to be an assistant secretary of Policy Development & Research at HUD and David Uejio to be assistant secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity at HUD.