Greta Harris, president and CEO of the Richmond-based Better Housing Coalition, was a guest speaker at the U.S. Senate Budget Committee’s hearing on the affordable housing crisis, Sept. 25, 2024. (Screenshot courtesy U.S. Senate Budget Committee livestream)
WASHINGTON – Conversations about things like zoning laws, permits, or use of housing subsidies typically happen in city or county government chambers rather than those of the U.S. Senate.
But people in localities across the nation, including Virginia, are experiencing the persistent challenges of finding and affording a place to live. So, the Senate’s budget committee had a hearing Wednesday to listen to a cohort of various housing experts about ways the federal government can help.
“As housing costs outpace wages, today more than 10 million Americans spend over half of their income on housing — leaving little for essentials like food, healthcare and education,” said Greta Harris, president and CEO of the Richmond-based Better Housing Coalition, who was a guest speaker at the hearing.
She also noted ripple effects that stem from housing issues.
“This suppresses consumer demand and hampers economic growth,” Harris added. “Businesses in both urban and rural areas struggle to attract and retain talent because workers can’t afford to live nearby.”
At the state and local level, Virginia is already spearheading some targeted solutions. A state commission recently launched a workforce housing pilot program for the state’s southwestern and Southside regions, and the city of Richmond earmarked money in its budget to create a right-to-counsel program for people facing evictions.
Workforce housing pilot launches to support southern and southwestern Virginia
Developers around Virginia and America continue to tap into use of federal Low Income Housing Tax Credits to bolster construction of below-market-rate housing available to certain percentages of area median income. Expanding the federal program was floated by several senators during the hearing (and is part of Vice President Kamala Harris’ housing plans if elected president).
Harris, of the Better Housing Coalition, said that LIHTC has been an “extremely effective” tool.
Speaker of Rhode Island’s house of representatives, Joseph Shekarchi, was also a guest at the hearing. He shared his perspective pressing for various housing policies in Rhode Island’s legislature, such as streamlining permitting and appeals processes for developments and investments in its housing production fund.
“We can do all the policy programming we want, but if a child doesn’t have a safe place to sleep, what does it all mean?” he said.
As a state lawmaker, he implored Congress to provide “greater funding mechanisms and grant opportunities to develop more housing, foster public-private partnerships, and to see further expansion of financial assistance” for renters and first-time homebuyers.
But Republican senators and some guest speakers cautioned against more government spending.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, took particular aim at Harris’ proposal of $25,000 in downpayment assistance for first-time homebuyers. If elected president, that plan would hinge on congressional approval.
His concern was echoed by guest speaker Ed Pinto, co-director of AEI Housing Center, a conservative think tank.
Pinto said Harris’ proposal is “almost certain to lead to higher home prices, thereby, more than eliminating the intended benefits. Millions of program recipients would become price setters in their neighborhood.”
He projected the downpayment assistance would cost the U.S. $100 billion over four years and wouldn’t help with supply issues.
“This would be a wealth transfer to existing homeowners and really rewarding NIMBY opposition to additional supply,” he said.
NIMBY, which stands for “not in my backyard,” is a casual term used when discussing housing policy for people who oppose new developments or types of developments.
Generally, lawmakers and the guest speakers agreed that increased housing supply will help with affordability.
Pinto did thank Virginia’s senators Tim Kaine and Mark Warner along with Van Hollen, D-Md., for their introduction of the LIFT Act, which draws inspiration from Pinto’s own proposals. The Low-Income First-Time Homebuyers Act would offer 20-year mortgages to first-time buyers whose incomes don’t exceed a certain threshold.
Warner joked to Pinto that he might need help recruiting some Republicans onto the bill.
Kaine also noted bipartisan consensus on selling off some vacant federally-owned land for new housing construction.
When Sen. Mike Braun, R-Ind., asked if housing issues should be best handled by local governments and the private sector, Harris of the Better Housing Coalition responded that the federal government can help with a power check.
“Left to its own devices, the market is not equitable and it serves certain portions of our society and not all,” she said.
That’s where encouragement of local zoning reforms by the state and federal government could help localities increase their supply through more development. From his perspective as a Rhode Island state lawmaker, Shekarchi said localities are going to need all the help they can get.
“We need federal subsidies. We need land use reform on a local level. We need the federal government to step in, because the states and the local communities cannot do it alone.”
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