Tuesday, Congress passed the country’s first major housing reform bill in nearly 20 years. While the bill, which gained bipartisan support, is now languishing following President Donald Trump’s refusal to sign it, housing advocates and providers are preparing for the future.
The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act includes several programs rolled into a single bill. Once the bill is signed into law, the impact on Connecticut won’t be immediate.
Many of the initiatives already exist in Connecticut, in different forms, according to Beth Sabilia, director of the Housing Collective's Center for Housing Opportunity in Eastern Connecticut.
“It gives us an added boost to say, ‘Hey, what we're doing makes sense,’ and ‘Wow, we're super lucky to have the federal government to provide additional tools to help us implement and accomplish these objectives,’” Sabilia said.
The bill seeks to expand housing production, by making it easier to build more housing and help communities get funding.
There’s always a need for more funding and regional coordination to help implement programs laid out in the bill, Sabilia said.
“When people talk about housing, they often think about construction, but it's really about coordination,” Sabilia said. “Without that coordination, good ideas stall, projects get delayed, funding goes unused, housing doesn't get built, and communities get frustrated. The real linchpin is going to make sure that that doesn't happen.”
More could’ve been included in the bill, according to Amy Peltier, Coalition and Advocacy Director at the housing advocacy nonprofit Partnership for Strong Communities.
Peltier wanted to see easements of the requirements or look into the efficacy of the Build America Buy America (BABA) program, which requires housing construction to use supplies almost entirely created in the U.S. This makes it difficult to finance projects, particularly affordable housing which brings in less revenue for ownership.
“It's just a missed opportunity of not including BABA in there,” Peltier said. “It just costs so much more money to get them off the ground.”
Parts of the bill include lessening restrictions for where multifamily housing can be built and preventing corporate landlords from buying up single family homes.
While corporate ownership of single family homes in Connecticut wouldn’t reach the point of being impacted by the legislation, the state will benefit from the programs boosting affordable housing construction, according to Rep. Jim Himes.
However, Himes said Trump is holding the bill hostage as he pushes for his SAVE America Act to be approved by Congress. The SAVE Act would increase restrictions for voting registration.
“This is a bill that will directly address affordability, which is the key concern of the American people today,” Himes said of the housing bill. “Just as literally members are gathering around a desk to watch the president sign this bill to actually deliver something on housing affordability, he says ‘Nope, you have to pass my nonsensical and awful SAVE Act before I do this.’”
