Rep. Watson Coleman Addresses Housing Affordability and Equity at Panel Event in Trenton

September 10, 2026 Rep. Watson Coleman Addresses Housing Affordability and Equity at Panel Event in Trenton Today, Representative Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12) spoke to the Capital Region Minority Chamber of Commerce (CRMCC) about housing affordability. Joined by CRMCC President Herb Ames and industry experts, the Congresswoman highlighted the 21 st Century ROAD to Housing Act , a comprehensive bipartisan package passed earlier this year that addresses many dimensions of housing policy. Over the past few years, Americans have dealt with rising housing costs, putting a strain on millions of families looking to pay their bills and in 2023, the Brookings Institute estimated that there is a shortage of about 4.9 million housing units. This highlights the importance of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, which is the largest bipartisan housing law in a generation. President Trump did not sign it into law, however, calling it “ a big yawn .” Per the United States Constitution, the bill eventually became law on July 11 th , 2026 after the President failed to sign it or veto it within the 10 days following its delivery by Congress. Based on track-record, there is reason to be concerned that the Trump Administration may ignore the law. The Congresswoman gave the following remarks: It's been over 50 years since the New Jersey Supreme Court handed down the Mount Laurel Doctrine that said exclusionary zoning practices that prevent low- and moderate-income families from living in a town are unconstitutional. Yet today, safe, affordable housing remains out of reach for so many. Fewer than four in ten non-homeowning families can afford a typical starter home. It is not enough to remove legal barriers to the middle class while leaving socioeconomic barriers in place. Economic predators have filled the vacuum left behind by the law. Money is like water; it'll find the cracks. The result is that young people and Black people suffer. The homeownership rate for Black households is barely half that of white households, at about 41%. Meanwhile, over 4.2 million young people experience homelessness each year. This astonishing number consists of a disproportionate number of people of color and LGBTQ+ individuals. Not coincidentally, in 2023 the Brookings Institute estimated that there is a shortage of about 4.9 million housing units. This is not only immoral - it is unsustainable in an economy in which homeownership plays such an important role in wealth accumulation. Housing is a right; it is not a privilege. Shelter is as fundamental a need as food and water. And, in a country as wealthy as ours, the difference between a housing crisis and a roof over everyone's head is a policy choice. The policy choices of the Trump administration have been clear. After passing their latest round of tax cuts for the mega rich and corporate donors, they had the gall to cut the HUD budget by 51%. That included a $27.25 billion cut to rental and homeless assistance programs- or 40%. A $53 billion cut to Section 8. An $8.8 billion cut to public housing. And a $1.25 billion cut to the HOME program, to name a few. In addition, HUD withdrew legal guidance for the Fair Housing Act's coverage of appraisal discrimination of undervalued homes in majority-black neighborhoods. They also disbanded the Property Appraisal and Valuation Equity taskforce and repealed the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing subregulatory policies, removing federal requirements for local governments to proactively desegregate their communities. Now I've worked to fight back on these abysmal policies, including during Appropriations hearings with Secretary Scott Turner, and through legislation like my Homes for Young Adults Act and Rep. Omar's Homes for All Act. But the biggest dent we've made was with the 21st Century Road to Housing Act, which passed earlier this summer. This new law is not perfect, but it does some important things like prohibiting large institutional investors, like BlackRock, from purchasing new single-family homes, a practice that has priced millions out of their own neighborhoods, forcing people who rent who would otherwise buy, and leaving many homes vacant in the process. It also increases grants to local governments that successfully increase housing supply through zoning reform and density bonuses. And it raises the public welfare investment cap for community development banks. Incorporated into the final package were six Democratic priorities including, the Reforming Disaster Recovery Act to codify the Community Development Block Grants for Disaster Recovery, the PRICE Act to help manufactured communities preserve affordability, the VALID Act to improve transparency for veteran homebuyers, the Build Now Act to incentivize housing development in certain CDBG jurisdictions while protecting disaster-hit areas, a Moving to Work provision to add up to 25 Public Housing Authorities while prohibiting these PHAs from imposing overwhelming work requirements, and a provision to codify Rental Assistance Demonstration to help convert aging public housing into long-term Section 8 contracts to fund critical property repairs. This bill passed the Senate 85 - 5 and the House 358 - 32. The president did not sign it, but he also did not veto it, so it became law on July 11th this year. We have the law passed now. But Trump’s refusal to engage with the bill, even just to sign it, hints at the likelihood that he will ignore the law. He’s done this before and his administration is filled, at the highest levels, with people who believe a President can simply ignore a law he doesn’t agree with. So, we need a Congress that will hold the Administration accountable. That starts this November. During his testimony last summer, HUD Secretary Turner repeatedly referred to the administration's efforts at dismantling housing assistance as a so-called “paradigm shift.” However, the real shift we've seen is how Americans of vastly different stripes and political persuasions view housing. People are fed up. They see their grown children unable to afford homes, they see rents skyrocketing, and they see more and more of their budgets going to rent and mortgage payments while they struggle to stay afloat. We are at the precipice of a revolution in how people view housing. And while I may not be in Congress to see universal housing become a reality, I am confident that if we keep working in this space, it will. Thank you and God bless. Print Email Share Tweet