WASHINGTON — Something unusual was happening on Capitol Hill in March: Lawmakers were close to passing substantial bipartisan legislation that could help the public.
Powered by knock-down-the-opposition support, the House (390-9) and the Senate (89-10) voted to pass the compromise deal to increase the U.S. housing supply and accelerate the pace of construction.
“This package sends a message that we can still work together and solve hard problems facing Americans,” Sen. Andy Kim (D-NJ) said at the time, before prospects for the bill faded.
Yet the legislation, after languishing for months, gained new life Wednesday when the House voted 393-16 in favor of a new bipartisan deal.
Every New Jersey lawmaker voted for the legislation except Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-7th), who is facing an undisclosed personal health matter. Kean has not voted since March 5.
Months from federal midterm elections, housing remains a significant political issue amid a national housing shortage, and members of both parties are eager to pass legislation to create more places for people to live.
Millions of homes short
At the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Trump administration has pursued a separate raft of new rules to make evictions easier for landlords, bar transgender people from shelters and apply work requirements as a precondition of federal housing assistance.
The U.S. is short 4 million to 7 million homes, depending on estimates, a force that has driven rents, housing prices and homelessness to record levels. The National Low Income Housing Coalition, an advocacy group, put the shortage at 7.2 million homes.
Renee Willis, the group’s president and CEO, said the legislation passed by the House is a “positive step,” though it does not include a bipartisan bill to help low-income communities repair and rebuild from natural disasters.
“The bill includes 57 provisions related to housing supply, manufactured housing, mortgage financing, rural housing, veteran housing and community banking,” said Libby O’Neil, a senior policy analyst with the housing coalition.
Kim, a member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, pressed language that would allow cities to use federal community development block grants for housing construction.
“This provision will give mayors the flexibility they need to build more and help more people lay roots in their communities and grow their cities,” Kim said during a recent floor speech.
Other elements Kim has pushed to be included would remake the permitting process and allow homes to be built faster. “In some cases, it takes five to seven years just to approve new housing and start construction. This is unacceptable in New Jersey or anywhere in this country.”
‘A fair shot’
The newly drafted bill has the support of the White House. In March, President Donald Trump threatened passage of the prior bill after he demanded Congress pass legislation to make it harder to vote.
What can pass the Republican-majority Congress remains uncertain, as Tim Scott, the Republican chair of the Senate housing committee, made clear in a joint statement with Massachusetts Democrat Elizabeth Warren after the House vote Wednesday.
Warren is the top Democrat on the panel and has opposed text in the bill about community banks — language that could prove to be a snag in the Senate.
“The Senate passed a strong, bipartisan housing bill because families across this country need relief from unaffordable housing costs and a fair shot at the American Dream,” Scott and Warren said in a joint statement. “We worked closely with the White House and our colleagues in both chambers on a bill that puts families first and addresses the housing crisis. There’s still work to be done and we are committed to continuing to work with the White House and our colleagues in the House on a housing bill that can pass the Senate and get to the President’s desk.”
Other moving pieces that could block passage include sections limiting the number of homes owned by Wall Street banks and other institutional investors , such as private equity firms or hedge funds that can pay cash.
The bill’s earlier draft would have barred corporate buyers from owning more than 350 homes.
