U.S. SENATOR TINA SMITH’S BIPARTISAN LEGISLATION INCLUDED IN LANDMARK HOUSING PACKAGE THAT PASSED THE UNITED STATES SENATE

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-MN), the top Democrat on the Senate Housing Subcommittee, announced that one of her major bipartisan bills aimed at combatting America's housing crisis was included in a package that passed the Senate in an 89-10 vote. Senator Smith's bipartisan Rural Housing Service Reform Act was included in the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, the first comprehensive housing supply legislation in 30 years.

"Without a safe, affordable place to live, nothing else in your life works. The lack of decent housing in this country is a choice that we're making, but with this package, we're choosing a different path," said Senator Smith. "For the first time in decades, the Senate is taking bipartisan action to cut red tape so we can build more housing and lower costs for Americans."

Senator Smith's bipartisan Rural Housing Service Reform Act would preserve up to 400,000 affordable homes in small towns and rural communities across the country, and more than 9,000 units in Minnesota, by making commonsense updates to programs at the USDA's Rural Housing Service for the first time in decades. The bill was included in the final package that passed the Senate.

In addition to Senator Smith's Rural Housing Service Reform Act, the package included a number of bills Senator Smith cosponsored and supported, including:

• Whole-Home Repairs Act: Authorizes a pilot program to help thousands of working families afford essential, costly home repairs through grants and forgivable loans.

• Choice in Affordable Housing Act: Expands access to federal government's largest rental assistance program for affordable housing.

• HOME Investment Partnerships Program Reauthorization and Reform Act: Makes critical updates to the largest federal affordable housing block grants to keep pace with the rising cost of living and to make the program more efficient.

• PRICE Act: Helps preserve, protect and stabilize manufactured housing communities by permanently reauthorizing HUD's Preservation and Reinvestment Initiative for Community Enhancement program.

The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act doesn't just boost housing supply. The legislation also addresses big corporations' stranglehold on America's housing market by banning large institutional investors from purchasing certain single-family homes. A full list of legislative items included in the package can be found here.

As the top Democrat on the Housing Subcommittee, Senator Smith has held numerous hearings and championed legislation focused on a wide array of housing issues, such as addressing homelessness, incentivizing housing construction, investing in rural and Tribal communities, eliminating health and safety hazards in homes, and fighting against private equity and other bad actors pushing up the cost of housing.

Senator Smith gave a speech on the floor of the Senate yesterday calling on her colleagues to join her in supporting the housing package. You can watch her remarks here.

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