WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Representative Eugene Vindman (Va.-07) celebrated final congressional passage of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, a bipartisan legislative package to address the nation’s housing shortage, lower costs for families, and expand access to affordable housing. The package, which includes Vindman’s Rural Housing Regulatory Relief Act, now heads to the President’s desk to be signed into law.
“I hear from families in my district struggling to find a home they can afford,” said Vindman. “We need to build more housing, stop Wall Street from buying single family homes, and, most importantly, make buying a home affordable — a key pillar of the American Dream. I’m proud that my Rural Housing Regulatory Relief Act was included in this bipartisan package because it will cut duplicative regulation to get more housing built and lower costs. This is exactly the kind of commonsense, bipartisan governing Virginians sent me to Congress to deliver.”
The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act cuts unnecessary federal and local red tape to speed housing construction, expands affordable housing investments, strengthens protections for homeless veterans, supports the conversion of vacant buildings into new homes, and helps level the playing field for families by preventing large institutional investors from bulk-buying single-family homes.
Vindman’s Rural Housing Regulatory Relief Act reduces unnecessary federal red tape that drives up housing costs by streamlining duplicative National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) reviews for housing built on previously developed “infill” land served by existing infrastructure. The legislation preserves all substantive environmental protections, including requirements to identify contaminants, toxins, and other hazards, while explicitly excluding farmland, forests, and open space from eligibility.
BACKGROUND
Congressman Vindman has long worked to boost housing supply across the United States. In December, he introduced the bipartisan Main Street Home Builders Act, legislation that would require the Small Business Administration (SBA) to carry out a pilot program supporting the construction or management of build-to-rent multifamily housing.
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