Murkowski Supports Bipartisan Housing Package

Murkowski Supports Bipartisan Housing Package

Washington, DC-U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) voted in favor of the 21st Century Road to Housing Act, a bipartisan legislative package designed to increase housing supply, reduce costs, and strengthen federal housing programs nationwide. The legislation incorporates provisions from bipartisan housing proposals previously considered by Congress and represents one of the most significant federal housing packages in decades. The bill now goes to the House for consideration.

"Housing affordability is a serious challenge in Alaska, where high construction costs, limited infrastructure, and logistical hurdles make it even harder to build homes," said Senator Murkowski. "While no single bill will solve Alaska's housing shortage, this package represents a start that will offer additional tools to support families and communities across our state. Throughout this process, I worked to ensure that the unique housing needs of rural and Tribal communities would be addressed in the legislation. While some of those provisions did not make it into the final package, I will continue working with my colleagues to advance solutions that address the challenges facing all Alaskans, including those Alaska Native communities that face more acute housing issues."

Several provisions in the bill would directly benefit Alaska, including:

• Faster Disaster Recovery: The bill permanently authorizes the Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) program and establishes a new Office of Disaster Management and Resiliency at HUD to streamline disaster recovery assistance and speed the delivery of aid to communities rebuilding after disasters. These improvements will help Alaska respond more quickly and effectively to rebuilding efforts in communities such as Kipnuk and Kwigillingok, which were devastated by the remnants of Typhoon Halong.

• Strengthening the HOME Program: The legislation improves the HOME Investment Partnerships Program by increasing administrative flexibility, simplifying requirements for local partners, and allowing communities to use funds more efficiently for housing construction, rehabilitation, and rental assistance.

• Support for Veterans' Homeownership: Multiple provisions expand awareness and accessibility of VA home loan benefits and improve housing assistance programs for veterans, including updates to mortgage disclosures and improvements to the HUD-VASH program serving unhoused disabled veterans. As the state with the highest per capita rate of veterans, it is essential we have the resources needed to take care of our retired servicemembers.

• Modernizing Manufactured and Modular Housing: The bill includes reforms to modernize federal rules for manufactured and modular housing, helping expand innovative housing construction methods that can lower costs and better accommodate unique cold-weather building needs in states like Alaska.

• Addressing Corporate Home Purchases: The legislation includes a provision to prohibit large institutional investors from purchasing certain single-family homes, helping ensure that more homes remain available for families rather than large corporate buyers.

The legislation also includes programs to support home repairs, improve housing counseling and financial literacy, and expand opportunities for affordable housing construction nationwide.

During Senate consideration of the bill, Senator Murkowski filed three amendments aimed at addressing the housing needs of Tribal communities. While these were not included in the final package, she will continue working to advance these priorities in her role as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. The three amendments would have included the following provisions in the package:

• Income Requirements: To allow Tribes to raise the income ceiling for housing assistance to 120 percent of Area Median Income (AMI), provided the majority of units continued to serve families at or below 80 percent of AMI, expanding homeownership opportunities while maintaining a focus on low-income Native families.

• Environmental Review Streamlining: To reduce duplicative federal environmental reviews by allowing Tribes to rely on HUD environmental review determinations when NAHASDA or ICDBG funding was the primary source and the Tribe had assumed environmental review authority.

• Build America, Buy America Waiver: To provide an exemption from Build America, Buy America (BABA) requirements for Tribes and rural communities facing unique supply chain and cost challenges that delay housing construction.

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