federal legislation proposed for housing construction

A new bill introduced in Congress is calling for more than $90 billion in funding for affordable housing construction across the country.

The Housing and Infrastructure Act, proposed by California Representative Maxine Waters, would see $70 million allotted for the federal Public Housing Capital Fund, and $10 billion for the Community Development Block Grant program.

Half of the remaining $10 billion would go for the Housing Trust Fund, with the final $5 billion set for a pre-disaster hazard mitigation program.

In testimony on the legislation before the House Financial Services Committee, Diane Yentel asserted that Congress should “address one of the most critical issues facing extremely low-income families today: the severe shortage of decent, accessible, and affordable homes.”

Yentel, who is the chief executive officer of the National Low Income Housing Coalition, added that there are currently only 7 million rental homes available nationally for the 11 million lowest-renter households.

“Without government intervention, decent and affordable homes cannot be reliably built, operated, and maintained at a price that the very lowest income workers, seniors, or people with disabilities can afford,” Yentel added.

In a statement lauding the Housing is Infrastructure Act, Greg Ugalde contended that “providing increased funding for important affordable housing programs and working to lower impact fees and streamline the development process are positive steps to address the nation’s unmet demand for low-income rental housing.”

Ugalde is the chairman of the National Association of Home Builders.

The legislation is currently being reviewed by the House Financial Services Committee.

By Garry Boulard

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