Hickenlooper Celebrates Senate Passage of Most Consequential Housing Bill in Decades

Bipartisan bill would limit homeownership by large institutional investors, help build more homes
Legislation builds on four Hickenlooper-backed priorities to protect Americans’ homeownership from corporations, support housing loans for veterans, boost manufactured housing
Builds on half a billion in federal funding Hickenlooper, Colorado delegation unlocked for Colorado
WASHINGTON –
Today, U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper voted to pass the
21st Century ROAD to Housing Act
, which is the most consequential housing legislation in decades. The bipartisan legislation would help address the national affordable housing shortage by cutting red tape to build more homes, investing in programs to lower the cost of buying a house, and preventing corporations from dominating the housing market.
Hickenlooper fought to include three provisions that he co-sponsors –
American Homeownership Act
,
VA Home Loan Awareness Act
,
VALID Act
, and
PRICE Act
– to expand housing loan support to veterans and boost manufactured housing.
“Housing shouldn’t be out of reach for working Americans. People are holding down two or three jobs and still can’t afford their rent or to buy a home,”
said Hickenlooper. “
We need to kick our efforts into overdrive. Let’s build more homes, expand loan support to veterans, and ultimately lower the cost of housing for millions of families.”
Hickenlooper had helped advance the legislation out of the Senate in October as part of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). However, the bill was not included in the final NDAA signed into law.
Specifically, the legislation would:
Protect homeownership for Americans, not corporations
Builds off of the
Hickenlooper-backed
American Homeownership Act
to restrict large institutional investors from purchasing, directly or indirectly, more than 350 single family homes and undermining the housing supply for working Americans
Expand housing supply:
Cut federal red tape to encourage new construction
Direct the Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) to develop best practices for zoning and provide grants to help communities create pre-approved architectural designs, known as pattern books, to speed up local permitting
Offer incentives to build housing near public transit, give priority to projects in Opportunity Zones (OZ), and create a pilot program to convert vacant and abandoned buildings into attainable housing
Establish the “Whole-Home Repairs Act” pilot to offer grants and forgivable loans to low- and moderate-income homeowners and small landlords to fix health hazards and preserve aging homes
Expand access to capital and homeownership
Attract private capital to underserved neighborhoods by increasing Public Welfare Investment (PWI) caps and prioritizing Opportunity Zone incentives
Direct the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) to evaluate and adjust compensation rules and fee caps to encourage lenders to offer small-dollar mortgages
Increase accountability by allowing HUD to mandate training for, or revoke the certification of, underperforming housing counselors
Boost manufactured and modular housing to bring down prices
Broaden the federal definition of manufactured housing to include modular and prefabricated units that are not built on a permanent chassis
Adopt the
Hickenlooper-backed
Preservation and Reinvestment Initiative for Communities (PRICE) Act
, which would permanently provide grants to stabilize and protect existing manufactured housing communities
Direct the FHA to assess barriers to financing modular homes and modernize mortgage lending standards for manufactured housing
Support veterans and underserved communities
Adopt
Hickenlooper-backed
VA Home Loan Awareness Act
, which would help veterans better understand and access loan support
Adopt
Hickenlooper-backed
VA Loan Informed Decision (VALID) Act
, which would require the FHA mortgage notice to include comparative rate and fee information about loans available under the Department of Veterans Affairs home loan program to make sure qualified veterans receive loans
Permanently authorize the Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) program and create a new Office of Disaster Management and Resiliency within HUD
Improve federal coordination and oversight
Force HUD and the USDA to coordinate on joint environmental reviews for rural housing projects
Require the heads of HUD, FHA, Ginnie Mae, USDA, FHFA, and the VA to testify annually before Congress
Establish a new Office of the Inspector General for NeighborWorks
Full text of the bill available
HERE
.
The bipartisan bill has broad support from consumer housing groups, real estate industry groups, and local officials including the US Conference of Mayors.
HICKENLOOPER, DELEGATION UNLOCK HALF A BILLION FOR HOUSING
Hickenlooper has long fought to expand affordable housing. In 2021, he
worked
with the Colorado delegation to deliver more than $3.8 billion in
American Rescue Plan
funding for the state, which included more than $500 million towards affordable housing investments and $300 million in emergency rental assistance for low-income households.
Since being elected, Hickenlooper has also fought and secured more than $62 million for 37 specific Colorado projects that help address the housing crisis.
A list of the housing focused projects that Hickenlooper secured funding for is listed below and
HERE
,
HERE
,
HERE
, and
HERE
.
Location
Name of Project
Requester
Funded Amount
Alamosa
San Luis Valley Health Workforce Housing
Lutheran Hospital Association of the San Luis Valley DBA San Luis Valley Health
$2,000,000
Boulder
Affordable Housing Modular Factory
City of Boulder Department of Housing & Human Services
$506,000
Boulder
Housing and Services Hub for Youth Experiencing Homelessness
TGTHR Boulder
$2,000,000
Carbondale
Carbondale Affordable Housing
Town of Carbondale
$2,000,000
Colorado Springs
Colorado Springs Affordable Housing for Teachers
We Fortify
$1,000,000
Cortez
Puwagaan Kaan Supportive Housing
The Pinon Project
$621,000
Denver
Renaissance at Civic Center Apartments
The Colorado Coalition for the Homeless
$5,000,000
Denver
Shelter for People Experiencing Homelessness
City and County of Denver
$2,000,000
Denver
Housing for Youth Experiencing Homelessness
Urban Peak
$3,078,000
Denver
3rd and Knox Affordable Housing Project
Habitat for Humanity of Metro Denver, Inc.
$750,000
Denver
Archway Communities Park Hill Campus Rehabilitation
Archway Housing & Services
$3,000,000
Denver
Denver Sheriff Department Housing Navigation Program
City and County of Denver
$750,000
Denver
Mile High United Way United for Families Initiatives
Mile High United Way
$1,500,000
Denver
Montbello FreshLo Hub Project
Montbello Organizing Committee
$1,455,000
Durango
La Plata County Bridge Housing
Community Investment Alliance
$800,000
Durango
Southwest Housing Solutions
Southwest Colorado Education Collaborative
$1,000,000
Durango
Durango Hotel Conversion Affordable Housing Project
City of Durango
$3,000,000
Eagle
Housing Energy Independence Project
Eagle County Government
$585,000
Fort Collins
Fort Collins Affordable Housing Preservation
Neighbor to Neighbor
$1,000,000
Fraser
St. Louis Landing Community Housing and Early Childhood Education Center
Town of Fraser
$2,000,000
Grand Junction
Land Acquisition, land banking, and affordable housing development
Grand Junction Housing Authority
$1,400,000
Greeley
High Impact Innovative Affordable Housing
Greeley-Weld Habitat for Humanity
$2,557,000
Ignacio
Rock Creek Affordable Housing & Associated Infrastructure
Southern Ute Indian Tribe
$3,000,000
Leadville
Lake County Community Housing
Leadville Lake County Regional Housing Authority
$850,000
Littleton
Arapahoe County Supportive Housing Project
Arapahoe County
$1,000,000
Naturita
West End Housing & Blight Remediation Project
West End Economic Development Corporation
$900,000
Pueblo
Pikes Peak Park Affordable Homeownership Project
NeighborWorks Southern Colorado
$3,743,000
Rifle
Wapiti Commons Affordable Homeownership Development
Habitat for Humanity Roaring Fork Valley
$1,200,000
Salida
Jane’s Place Multi-family Affordable Housing Solar Arrays
Chaffee County Government
$300,000
Steamboat Springs
Childcare and Workforce Housing Site Work Project
City of Steamboat Springs
$1,300,000
Steamboat Springs
Steamboat Springs Workforce Housing Pedestrian and Bicycle Connection Project
City of Steamboat Springs
$1,000,000
Telluride
Ouray County Affordable Housing Neighborhood
Paradox Community Trust
$1,462,000
Towaoc
Moguan Aftercare Housing Facility
Ute Mountain Ute Tribe
$2,000,000
Towaoc
Ute Mountain Ute Multi-Family Housing Development
Ute Mountain Ute Tribe
$2,500,000
Towaoc
UMU Housing Improvement Project
Ute Mountain Ute Tribe
$2,000,000
Vail
Vail Valley Affordable Home Ownership Development
Habitat for Humanity Vail Valley
$1,500,000
Wheat Ridge
Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing Program – Wheat Ridge
City of Wheat Ridge
$2,000,000
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