Rep. Ansari Hosts First Shadow Hearing on Housing Affordability

WASHINGTON - Today, Representative Yassamin Ansari, Chairwoman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) Lowering Costs Taskforce, hosted the Taskforce's first shadow hearing, titled "Building the New American Dream: Lowering Housing Costs for All."

The shadow hearing brought together Members of Congress, housing policy experts, and frontline advocates to confront the housing affordability crisis impacting families in Arizona and across the country. Joining Rep. Ansari as co-hosts were Representatives Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) and Ilhan Omar (MN-05).

"Housing costs are crushing working families in Phoenix and across America," said Rep. Ansari. "Teachers, nurses, students, seniors, and service workers are being priced out of the communities they helped build. This crisis is not inevitable-it is the result of policy choices. Today, we are making clear that we can and must choose a different path."

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Rep. Ansari convened the shadow hearing as the first major act of the Congressional Progressive Caucus's new Lowering Costs Task Force that she chairs. That Task Force will bring together lawmakers, advocates, and experts to build a bold, progressive agenda to lower costs across the economy, starting with housing-because nothing impacts a family's budget more.

"Whether it is paying rent or a mortgage, for millions of Americans, housing costs are just too damn high," said Rep. Omar. "If we want to bring costs down, we must build more homes: homes that people can actually afford, in the neighborhoods where they want to live, and in a country where real economic opportunities are abundant. That is why I will be reintroducing my Homes for All Act, which embodies the North Star of what public housing should look like in this country."

Representatives Becca Balint (VT-00), Nanette Barragan (CA-44), Suzanne Bonamici (OR-1), Yvette Clarke (NY-09), Maxwell Frost (FL-10), Jesús "Chuy" García (IL-04), Adelita Grijalva (AZ-07), Steven Horsford (NV-04), Sara Jacobs (CA-51), Teresa Leger Fernández (NM-03), LaMonica McIver (NJ-10), Delia C Ramirez (IL-03), Emily Randall (WA-06), Andrea Salinas (OR-06), Melanie Stansbury (NM-01), Mark Takano (CA-39), Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), and Jill Tokuda (HI-02) also joined Ansari's shadow hearing.

The Lowering Costs Task Force will continue to organize shadow hearings, roundtables, and listening sessions on a variety of ways to lower costs for all Americans-from utility bills to childcare and groceries-while building the progressive affordability agenda for 2026 and beyond.

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