Today, the U.S. House of Representatives is considering the Moving Forward Act, an infrastructure package which includes the Housing Is Infrastructure Act, Chairwoman Waters’ legislation to invest over $100 billion in affordable housing infrastructure to create or preserve approximately 1.8 million affordable homes.

The Housing Is Infrastructure Act would make the following investments:

• $70 billion to fully address the capital needs backlog for nearly 1 million public housing homes;
  
• $1 billion to fully address the capital needs backlog for approximately 14,000 Section 515 and 514 rural homes;
  
• $1 billion to support mitigation efforts that can protect communities from future disasters and reduce post-disaster federal spending;
  
• $5 billion for the Housing Trust Fund to support the creation of nearly 60,000 new units of housing that would be affordable to the lowest income households;
  
• $100 million to help over 13,300 low income elderly households in rural areas to age in place;
  
• $1 billion for the Native American Housing Block Grant Program to create or rehabilitate over 8,800 affordable homes for Native Americans on tribal lands;
  
• $10 billion for a CDBG set-aside to incentivize states and cities to eliminate impact fees and responsibly streamline the process for development of affordable housing;
  
• $5 billion for the HOME Investment Partnerships Program to fund the construction, purchase, or rehabilitation of over 136,600 affordable homes for low-income people;
  
• $2.5 billion for the Supportive Housing for the Elderly program (Section 202) to create over 54,800 new homes affordable to low income seniors;
  
• $2.5 billion for the Supportive Housing for Persons with Disabilities program (Section 811) to create 27,000 new homes affordable to low income individuals with disabilities; and,
  
• $2.5 billion to the Capital Magnet Fund for competitive grants to Community Development Financial Institutions to create or preserve nearly 450,000 affordable homes.
  

In addition, the “Housing Is Infrastructure Act of 2020” requires ten percent of nearly all funding authorized in the bill to be used for sustainable features such as energy and water efficiency retrofits, including those that reduce utility costs for residents. The bill also promotes the inclusion of minority and women owned businesses by requiring that grantees conduct outreach to inform them of opportunities created through funds provided. Lastly, the bill requires reporting on fair housing outcomes of housing units made available with authorized funds.

See here for Chairwoman Waters’ statement on the inclusion of the Housing Is Infrastructure Act in the Moving Forward Act.

See here for a one pager on the Housing Is Infrastructure Act. See here for a section-by-section.

The Housing Is Infrastructure Act is supported by the Association of State Floodplain Managers, Capital Magnet Fund Coalition, Consortium for Citizens With Disabilities Housing Task Force, Corporation for Supportive Housing, Council of Large Public Housing Authorities, Council of State Community Development Agencies, Enterprise Community Partners, Elevate Energy, Green & Healthy Homes Initiative, Housing Assistance Council, LeadingAge, Local Initiatives Support Corporation, Mayors and CEOs for U.S. Housing Investment, National Alliance on Mental Illness, National Apartment Association, National Association for County Community and Economic Development, National Association of Counties, National Association of Home Builders, National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials, National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development, National Community Development Association, National Housing Conference, National Housing Law Project, National Housing Trust, National Low Income Housing Coalition, National Multifamily Housing Council, National Community Reinvestment Coalition, National Resources Defense Council, National Urban League, PolicyLink, Public Housing Authorities Directors Association, UnidosUS, and Up for Growth Action.

See here for a fact sheet on the Moving Forward Act.

In April of 2019, the Committee convened a hearing entitled “Housing in America: Assessing the Infrastructure Needs of America’s Housing Stock,” where Chairwoman Waters called for infrastructure investments to include housing.

In November of 2019, Chairwoman Waters introduced her legislation, the Housing Is Infrastructure Act (H.R. 5187).

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