A newly proposed federal housing bill aims to create millions of housing units nationwide.
The American Housing and Economic Mobility Act, co-sponsored by U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut, was announced Tuesday morning.
The bill is an expanded iteration of a bill of the same name proposed last year.
Blumenthal wants Republican lawmakers to “put money where their mouth is” to make housing more affordable. He said the bill is a chance for Republicans to do that.
“That achievement would be monumental for American families, 3 million new homes, a 10% drop in rental,” Blumenthal said. “It would change the nature of housing in America, or at least be a really solid step in that direction.”
The bill would reform veterans housing programs, lower rent payments for many and offer first time homebuyer assistance.
In the updated version of the bill, it would also incentivize government officials to lift some land use restrictions.
“We want to provide hope in the face of that housing crisis, because there is reason to hope,” Blumenthal said. “It's a soluble problem. It takes a commitment, and America has to make that commitment.”
Blumenthal said he’s clear-eyed, but not confident in the bill’s ability to gain approval.
He says if the proposed tax cuts go through, the programs within the bill would rely on dollars previously allocated and cut from other federal departments.
“The American Housing and Economic Mobility Act would involve dollars taken from tax cuts that would not be made,” Blumenthal said.
Standing outside the Beaumont Lofts, an affordable housing complex in Hartford, Kara Capone, Chief Executive Officer of nonprofit Community Housing Partners, said the bill’s zoning reform is an important step.
“Here in Connecticut, it's been very difficult to try and build places like this that are beautiful, that fit within their communities, that are on a smaller scale,” Capone said. “Housing is the way to help solve homelessness. It certainly isn't displacing people. It isn't criminalizing it. It really is giving people a place to stay.”
