Just after the Senate overwhelmingly passed a major housing bill Thursday, the top Senate Democratic lawmaker and the top House Republican on the issue diverged over what the House response to the measure should be.
The Senate voted, 89-10, in favor of the bill that comprises more than three dozen provisions designed to increase housing supply, lower costs and streamline regulations.
The measure melded a Senate bill that was approved 24-0 last July by the Senate Banking Committee and a similar bill the House passed last month, 390-9.
The legislation includes a provision backed by the White House that would curb the ability of large investors to buy single-family homes and a provision that would put a hold on a central bank digital currency, but not make it permanent, as House conservatives want.
The bill would give lawmakers something to hold up as an effort to lower high housing prices as affordability becomes a key issue in this year’s elections.
“It just got 89 votes in the United States Senate. That doesn’t happen on a regular basis,” Senate Banking ranking member Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., told reporters after the vote. “We have taken 85 percent of the House bill. The White House has already given its enthusiastic support for the bill as written. It’s time for the House to vote on it and send it over to President Trump.”
But House Financial Services Chairman French Hill, R-Ark., continued to have reservations Thursday after saying last week the Senate legislation doesn’t reflect well enough House priorities.
“Today, the Senate took an important step in the legislative process,” Hill said in a statement. “It is critical we get the details right and mitigate some of the concerns raised by House members with the Senate bill. I hope the work Senator Scott and I have done together can eventually become law, and I look forward to working with all parties to achieve a bicameral success that will bring down the cost of housing and benefit the American people.”
In a speech on the Senate floor just before the vote, Scott stressed the need to move the bill quickly through Congress.
“We can do what so many folks failed to do in this legislative body for the last few decades, not for years, but for decades,” Scott said. “That is to pass consequential legislation that makes it easier to become a homeowner for those who are ready for that part of their journey. Let’s create more homeowners at an earlier age. The age of affordability is now, and the solution to affordability is, in fact, us.”
Some Senate Democrats raised concerns Wednesday about the provision that would curb the ability of institutional investors to buy single-family homes. Echoing skeptics in the housing industry, the Democrats said it would have the unintended consequence of reducing the supply of rental housing.
The provision would exempt new construction or rehabilitation of homes for build-to-rent programs. That exception, however, would sunset after seven years, a limitation that several housing industry groups say would kill build-to-rent projects and reduce housing supply.
The provision was meant to prevent private equity and hedge funds as well as other large investors who own more than 350 units from buying up single-family homes that could otherwise be purchased by individual families.
The National Association of Home Builders urged lawmakers to fix the build-to-rent language, saying it could require House-Senate talks.
“We urge the House to seek a conference and make changes to remove the government mandate to sell rental housing within seven years so that it will not lead to a decrease in new construction,” NAHB Chairman Bill Owens said in a statement Thursday. “NAHB will continue to work with House and Senate lawmakers to pass a final housing package that includes the best elements of both chambers’ bills and truly reflects Congress and President Trump’s stated purpose of increasing the nation’s housing supply.”
Digital currency
House conservatives also say they will sink the Senate bill if the provision on a central bank digital currency is not strengthened. The legislation would prevent the Federal Reserve from issuing such a token until after Dec. 31, 2030. House conservatives are seeking a permanent ban.
Despite grumbling from some lawmakers about aspects of the bill, the measure received widespread Senate support from both sides of the aisle.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., in floor remarks before Thursday’s vote, called the bill “the latest piece of legislation in Republicans’ affordability agenda.”
Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., said the bill would address housing shortages in his state by reducing regulations, such as required environmental reviews that can stall housing construction, and by giving state and local governments more flexibility to develop housing.
“We’re cutting red tape,” Rounds said on the Senate floor before the vote. “Taken together, these reforms represent a common sense approach to housing policy. They do not rely on sweeping new federal mandates. Instead, they focus on removing barriers, modernizing outdated systems and empowering the communities closest to the problem.”
Nearly all the provisions in the package started as housing bills with bipartisan support. Rounds mentioned that he worked with Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., on a few of them.
In a floor speech on Wednesday, Kim praised the bill, saying it would increase housing supply and lower costs.
“Congress owes it to all the Americans we serve to tackle this problem,” Kim said. “The package is also the product of strong bipartisan work in a tough partisan political climate.”
