Podcast: 2 Key Lawmakers Explain Challenges in Passing Major Housing Bill
On the latest episode of NAHB’s podcast, Housing Developments, CEO Jim Tobin and COO Paul Lopez are joined by Reps. Mike Flood (R-Neb.) and Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) — chairman and ranking member of the House Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance, respectively — to discuss the importance of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act and how they worked together to finalize this once-in-a-generation housing package.
Why This Housing Package is Important
The lack of affordable housing is a major economic development issue that communities across the nation face.
“I’ve got more jobs than people in the state of Nebraska, and our barriers to filling those jobs is quality housing that’s affordable,” Flood stated. “Since 2019, we’ve seen a lot of inflation — everything from lumber to the appliances to the sourcing of those materials. It’s made buying a home out of reach.”
“My constituents [are spending] more than 30% or even 50% of their income on housing,” Cleaver added. “And many households are paying significantly more than they were five years ago.”
Industry and Bipartisan Collaboration Was Key
Proactive outreach from Congress informed these legislative efforts and helped pinpoint the biggest challenges that stakeholders faced in solving the affordable housing crisis. This included looking at innovative ways to reduce the cost of housing, such as reducing barriers for different construction types and incentivizing local governments and tribes to improve housing supply.
It also involved reaching across the aisle and collaborating among leaders to find common ground.
“The way this bill is interacting to incentivize local governments to be a partner with home builders, with land developers, with their constituents to build more housing is a testament to [NAHB] but also the bipartisanship,” Cleaver noted.
“Ownership should be above partisanship,” he added.
That doesn’t mean the legislation was without complications. One key sticking point that NAHB actively advocated against was the forced-sale requirement for build-for-rent housing.
“One thing the home builders understand is that supply is the name of the game, and if we want to keep prices low and stop them from skyrocketing, we have to have more supply,” Flood noted. “This divestiture … was affecting our supply. And it was harming vulnerable communities.”
To help build consensus, the Hill was able to activate stakeholders both inside and outside of the residential construction industry to share key messages about this implications this provision would have.
“That was a tricky one to navigate,” he added, “but I think we got to a good place on it.”
NAHB will continue to delve into the specifics of the bill and how they benefit the residential housing industry at nahb.org/road.
To learn more about how the bill came to fruition, listen to the full episode of the podcast below, subscribe to Housing Developments through your favorite podcast provider, or watch all the episodes on YouTube.