U.S. Senator Young, colleagues introduce legislation to repeal burdensome federal housing mandates

U.S. Senator Todd Young (R-Ind.) joined a group of Republican colleagues in introducing legislation to eliminate expensive Biden-era Green New Deal housing mandates. The HOUSE Act would repeal the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Final Determination on energy efficiency standards for new construction of HUD-and-USDA-financed housing.

“Hoosiers continue to face rising housing costs, and policymakers should be working to expand housing supply and affordability, not imposing new hurdles. These Biden-era mandates add unnecessary expenses and slow down construction at a time when families need relief,” said Senator Young. “Our legislation will restore common-sense standards to increase our housing supply, lower costs, and ensure hard-working Americans have access to safe, affordable places to live.”

Background:

The HOUSE Act would: 

• Repeal the HUD and USDA Final Determination on energy efficiency standards for new construction of HUD-and-USDA-financed housing.
• Require HUD and USDA to revert to the 2009 standards that are already in effect. This would alleviate the undue pressure that is being put on an already constrained housing supply.
• Prohibit the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) from implementing a similar mandate for VA mortgages. It would also clarify that the Federal Housing Finance Agency has no statutory authority to impose similar mandates.
• Reform underlying law by prohibiting HUD and USDA from adopting new efficiency mandates unless at least 26 states have already adopted similar standards.

In addition to Senator Young, U.S. Senators John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W. Va.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), and Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) also introduced the legislation.

Representative Andy Biggs (R-AZ-05) introduced companion legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Read the full text of the legislation here.