A major update to the revised housing bill on Tuesday likely helps it warrant a bit more Senate-side support
With a vote of 396-13, the House passed the revised 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, which had previously sailed through the Senate but faced a gauntlet of amendments in the House.
TheHILL REPUBLICANS SEE URGENCY IN PASSING HOUSING BILL AHEAD OF MIDTERM ELECTIONS Ahead of the revised legislation, the White House and President Donald Trump urged the House to pass the Senate version as is, but the House Financial Services Committee forged ahead and released a new version last week, whichThe bipartisan bill needed widespread support in the House, given that it was passed under suspension, which requires a two-thirds majority vote and sidesteps certain procedural hurdles. House lawmakers had argued the revisions were necessary, given the numbers game of getting to that two-thirds majority, as well as pushback from stakeholders.this week.
“The House’s amendment reflects a good-faith effort to find consensus and move a bicameral bill to President Trump’s desk. ” Still, the Senate was hoping that the House would pass its version of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act as is. And Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee Chairman Tim Scott and ranking member Elizabeth Warren were signaling ahead of the Wednesday House vote that there are still moving parts.
“We worked closely with the White House and our colleagues in both chambers on a bill that puts families first and addresses the housing crisis,” the duo said in a statement. “There’s still work to be done and we are committed to continuing to work with the White House and our colleagues in the House on a housing bill that can pass the Senate and get to the President’s desk.
” Scott and Warren will be discussing the revised House bill with colleagues in both parties to get their views on the updated legislation, according to Senate aides. A major update to the revised legislation on Tuesday likely helps it warrant a bit more Senate support — particularly on the section that bans institutional investors such as Blackstone from purchasing single-family homes.
In its amended version last week, the House left the institutional investor ban in but removed a provision that would require investors in build-to-rent homes to sell those houses within seven years. In addition, the House’s amended version contained a number of exceptions that would have allowed institutional investors to purchase more homes than they would have, all else equal, under the Senate’s version.
The latest update, which came through on Tuesday afternoon, still cuts the requirement to sell build-to-rent homes after seven years but removes the other exceptions added last week. Essentially, the institutional investor section is the Senate’s version, but with just the seven-year build-to-rent provision removed. Prior to the Tuesday afternoon update, some opponents in the Senate had argued that the combined changes would allow private equity firms to outcompete families in the market more than the Senate’s version.
Housing experts argued that the seven-year build-to-rent provision would decrease the housing stock, and industry groups have come out hard against the proposal. The provision was heavily criticized by influential groups such as the National Association of Home Builders and the National Multifamily Housing Council.
In addition to the section on institutional investors, the Tuesday update also makes changes to organized labor provisions in the legislation. The House’s revised version also includes community banking provisions that were not in the Senate version, but were a priority of House Financial Services Committee Chairman French Hill . The housing bill also includes language, aimed at appeasing conservatives, that applies a temporary ban on central bank digital currencies.
A CBDC is a form of digital currency issued by a central bank. In the United States, that would be the Federal Reserve. Consumers would be able to use digital money issued directly by the Fed in addition to cash. Proponents of a CBDC argue that a centralized dollar would help prevent bank bailouts and increase efficiency.
But opponents, many of whom are Republicans, contend that it could give the Fed too much power or could raise Fourth Amendment concerns, depending on how much control the government would have over individual accounts. Some in the House were upset the ban was not made permanent, and, notably, even the House’s revised version retains the sunset provision through 2030.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Houston weather: Daily storm threat to begin on Tuesday, FOX 26 Storm Alert for Tuesday nightTexas is entering several days of stormy weather and the first line of storms is expected late Tuesday and overnight into early Wednesday.
Read more »
Trump says he'll make an endorsement in Texas Senate race TuesdayDonald Trump will announce who he is backing in the Texas Senate race, which features Sen. John Cornyn and state Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Read more »
Trump says endorsement in Texas GOP Senate runoff will happen TuesdayPresident Donald Trump said he would endorse a candidate in the contentious Republican Senate runoff in Texas as early as Tuesday afternoon.
Read more »
Trump teases a Tuesday endorsement in the Texas GOP Senate runoffTrump says he will reveal Tuesday afternoon who he endorses in the Texas GOP Senate runoff between John Cornyn and Ken Paxton.
Read more »