Senate Passes Housing Bill With Broad Bipartisan Support, Includes Cramer-Authored Provisions

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WASHINGTON, D.C. - Housing markets in the United States have struggled for decades with stubborn inflation, making the goal of homebuying much harder to attain. A comprehensive bill aimed at increasing housing supply to meet consumer demand is making its way through Congress and has Republicans and Democrats hopeful for change. The bill, called The 21^st Century Renewing Opportunity in the American Dream (ROAD) to Housing Act, includes two provisions authored by U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), who serves on the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee. In a vote of 89 to 10 today, it passed the Senate and now advances to the U.S. House of Representatives.

The 21^st Century ROAD to Housing Act is the result of the first housing markup in the Banking Committee held in over a decade, which passed unanimously out of the committee last year. The legislation is a comprehensive overhaul of U.S. housing policies and is intended to use market forces and regulatory reform to make home ownership more attainable.

"By reducing red tape and tackling roadblocks, we are really making the dream of home ownership a more accessible reality for Americans," said Cramer. "The passage of this bill, the 21^st Century ROAD to Housing Act, is the result of the whole Banking Committee, from Chairman Tim Scott to Elizabeth Warren, working together to pass over three dozen housing reforms, that include my Appraisal Industry Improvement Act and the Choice in Affordable Housing Act that I introduced. Comprehensive housing reform is long overdue and we should have gotten to it sooner. I encourage the House to please take this bipartisan momentum that we've created in the Senate and get this bill across the finish line and to the President's desk."

Cramer's provisions address the appraisal workforce shortage and streamline inspections for new landlords.

Rural communities in North Dakota and across the country are experiencing an appraiser shortage, leading to delays for appraisals and extending the homebuying process for purchasers and sellers. North Dakotans have experienced an average wait time of 21 days for home appraisals, while the national average is between six to nine days. Cramer introduced the Appraisal Industry Improvement Act alongside U.S. Senator Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) last year, which supports building the appraiser workforce to lessen transaction delays. The 21^st Century ROAD to Housing Act includes this bipartisan provision.

The legislation also includes a portion of Cramer's and U.S. Senator Chris Coons' (D-DE) Choice in Affordable Housing Act to reduce U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development inspection delays. This section allows units financed through other federal housing programs to automatically satisfy voucher inspection requirements if inspected within the past year. Additionally, it reduces duplication and administrative burden for new landlords to request pre-inspections to increase access to housing for voucher holders and encourage landlord participation.

Two bills Cramer cosponsored are in the bill. One is the Community Investment and Prosperity Act and the Rural Housing Service Reform Act. The Community Investment and Prosperity Act increases the Public Welfare Investment cap from 15% to 20%, to enhance banks' capacity to make investments in affordable housing. The last time Congress raised the cap on "public welfare investments" was in 2006 as part of the Financial Services Regulatory Relief Act of 2006. This increased investment will help supply the demand for affordable housing.

The other bill, the Rural Housing Service Reform Act, led by U.S. Senators Mike Rounds (R-SD) and Tina Smith (D-MN), expands housing opportunities by offering loans, grants, and rental assistance to rural communities across the country. Rural communities only saw a 1.7% increase in the number of housing units between 2010 and 2020, with almost half of states seeing a decrease in the number of rural units available. The bill also makes critical reforms to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Rural Housing Service programs, including allowing Section 521 Rental Assistance to continue even after a Section 515 mortgage matures. Under current law, when a Section 515 mortgage expires, the associated rental assistance ends as well. These updates will allow affordable housing units to stay available even after a mortgage with USDA is paid off.