WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Gary Peters (MI) helped the Senate pass the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, bipartisan legislation that would make progress to bring housing costs down for Michigan families by growing the current housing supply and improving federal programs that help communities develop new housing projects. The bill now heads to the U.S. House of Representatives.
“In nearly every Michigan community, the message I’m hearing from my constituents is the same, housing costs are too high,” said Senator Peters. “I was proud to join a bipartisan group of my Senate colleagues in passing this bill, which makes important reforms that will expand housing stock in our communities, helping to lower costs and putting the American dream of homeownership within reach for families across Michigan and the United States.”
This comprehensive package includes numerous reforms, including provisions to:
- Create new grant programs to help make critical home repairs that modernize our current housing stock.
- Require the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) to increase multifamily loan limits to match housing market costs.
- Reauthorize the HOME Program and allow for new flexibilities to convert run-down buildings into new housing units.
- Expand eligible uses of the Community Development Block Grant Program to include affordable housing construction.
- Reauthorize the Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery Program.
- Lift existing caps on the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) program. This provision will help additional public housing authorities to convert legacy Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) projects into Project Based Rental Assistance Housing.
- Reform the USDA’s Rural Housing Service Program to preserve housing units in rural areas.
Peters has previously called for action to address the affordable housing crisis in Michigan. As a member of the Appropriations Committee, Peters has also secured federal funding for affordable housing projects across Michigan.
