To direct the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to annually submit to the Congress a report that analyzes State and local strategies, activities, and plans that promote affordable housing, and for other purposes.
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Rep. Cherfilus-McCormick, Sheila [D-FL-20]
ID: C001127
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Bill Summary
Another bill, another exercise in futility. Let's dissect this mess.
**Main Purpose & Objectives:** The main purpose of HR 2494 is to create a report that analyzes state and local strategies for promoting affordable housing. Wow, what a bold move. I'm sure the millions of Americans struggling to pay rent or find a decent place to live will be thrilled to know that Congress is... making a report about it.
**Key Provisions & Changes to Existing Law:** The bill amends Section 1205 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992, requiring the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to submit an annual report to Congress. This report must include an analysis of state and local strategies for affordable housing and policy recommendations based on that analysis. Oh boy, I can barely contain my excitement.
**Affected Parties & Stakeholders:** The affected parties are, supposedly, low-income Americans struggling to find affordable housing. But let's be real, the only stakeholders who actually matter here are the politicians, lobbyists, and special interest groups who will use this report as a justification for their own pet projects and pork-barrel spending.
**Potential Impact & Implications:** The potential impact of this bill is precisely zero. It's a feel-good measure designed to make Congress look like it's doing something about the affordable housing crisis without actually doing anything meaningful. The report will likely be a bland, watered-down summary of existing research and policy recommendations that nobody will read or care about.
But hey, at least we'll have another layer of bureaucratic red tape to navigate, courtesy of this bill. And who knows, maybe some well-connected developers or real estate interests will get a nice chunk of taxpayer money out of it.
**Diagnosis:** This bill is suffering from a bad case of "Legislative Theater-itis," a disease characterized by grandiose language and empty promises. The symptoms include:
* A complete lack of actual policy changes or meaningful reforms * An overreliance on bureaucratic reports and analysis * A failure to address the root causes of the affordable housing crisis (e.g., gentrification, income inequality, lack of affordable land)
**Treatment:** The only treatment for this disease is a healthy dose of skepticism and ridicule. We need to call out these politicians for their empty promises and demand real action on affordable housing.
But let's be real, folks. This bill will likely pass with flying colors, and we'll all just have to sit back and watch as Congress congratulates itself on doing absolutely nothing to address the affordable housing crisis.
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Rep. Cherfilus-McCormick, Sheila [D-FL-20]
Congress 119 • 2024 Election Cycle
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Project 2025 Policy Matches
This bill shows semantic similarity to the following sections of the Project 2025 policy document. Higher similarity scores indicate stronger thematic connections.
Introduction
— 503 — 15 DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT Benjamin S. Carson, Sr., MD The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) admin- isters a web of federal programs with mandates to support access to homeownership and affordable rental housing, relieve temporary hous- ing instability for homeless persons, preserve a stable inventory of public housing units, and enforce mandates with powers to settle compliance matters ranging from housing quality standards to housing discrimination cases. Politicians across party lines use HUD to promise ever-greater public bene- fits. In addition, HUD programs tend to perpetuate the notion of bureaucratically provided housing as a basic life need and, whether intentionally or not, fail to acknowledge that these public benefits too often have led to intergenerational poverty traps, have implicitly penalized family formation in traditional two-parent marriages, and have discouraged work and income growth, thereby limiting upward mobility. A new conservative Administration will therefore need to: l Reset HUD. This effort should specifically include a broad reversal of the Biden Administration’s persistent implementation of corrosive progressive ideologies across the department’s programs. l Implement an action plan across both process and people. This plan should include both the immediate redelegation of authority to a cadre of political appointees and the urgent implementation of administrative regulatory actions with respect to HUD policy and program eligibility.
Introduction
— 503 — 15 DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT Benjamin S. Carson, Sr., MD The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) admin- isters a web of federal programs with mandates to support access to homeownership and affordable rental housing, relieve temporary hous- ing instability for homeless persons, preserve a stable inventory of public housing units, and enforce mandates with powers to settle compliance matters ranging from housing quality standards to housing discrimination cases. Politicians across party lines use HUD to promise ever-greater public bene- fits. In addition, HUD programs tend to perpetuate the notion of bureaucratically provided housing as a basic life need and, whether intentionally or not, fail to acknowledge that these public benefits too often have led to intergenerational poverty traps, have implicitly penalized family formation in traditional two-parent marriages, and have discouraged work and income growth, thereby limiting upward mobility. A new conservative Administration will therefore need to: l Reset HUD. This effort should specifically include a broad reversal of the Biden Administration’s persistent implementation of corrosive progressive ideologies across the department’s programs. l Implement an action plan across both process and people. This plan should include both the immediate redelegation of authority to a cadre of political appointees and the urgent implementation of administrative regulatory actions with respect to HUD policy and program eligibility. — 504 — Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise l Reverse HUD’s mission creep over nearly a century of program implementation dating from the Department’s New Deal forebears. HUD’s new political leadership team will need to reexamine the federal government’s role in housing markets across the nation and consider whether it is time for a “reform, reinvention, and renewal”1 that transfers Department functions to separate federal agencies, states, and localities. OVERVIEW HUD was created by the Housing and Urban Development Act of 19652 and since then has administered several programs that had been administered by the Housing and Home Finance Agency. With a proposed fiscal year (FY) budget authority totaling $71.9 billion and 8,326 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees,3 it remains the largest government agency charged with implementing federal housing policy. In addition to its headquarters in Washington, D.C., HUD has 10 regional offices as well as field offices and centers to implement specialized operational and enforcement responsibilities.4 HUD program offices also interface with various networks of implementing organizations such as locally chartered public housing agencies (PHAs) and federal, state, and local government and judicial bodies as well as such private industry participants as mortgage lenders. The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development can delegate authority to various entities across an array of HUD programs.5 The Secretary also oversees the Office of the Deputy Secretary;6 the Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA);7 the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU);8 and the Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships (CFBNP).9 The Office of the Secretary also comprises a team of politically appointed positions and career support staff. Each of the following offices should be headed by political appointees except where otherwise noted. l Office of Administration, headed by the Chief Administration Officer. The Office of Administration has responsibilities for the Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer (OCHO, headed by the Chief Human Capital Officer, currently a career position) and the Office of the Chief Procurement Officer (CPO, headed by the Chief Procurement Officer, currently a career position). l Office of the Chief Financial Officer, headed by the Chief Financial Officer. l Office of the Chief Information Officer, headed by the Chief Information Officer.
Introduction
— 515 — Department of Housing and Urban Development 25. Process must prioritize where political leadership can implement administrative reforms through regulatory action and subregulatory guidance reforms. 26. China and other foreign nations should not be able to disrupt our nation’s housing markets, including by artificially driving up prices and reducing affordability and access to housing for Americans who are crowded out of the market by such market participation. 27. These initiatives are maintained under such designations as diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI); critical race theory (CRT); black, indigenous, Pacific Islander, and other people of color (BIPOC); and environmental, social, and governance (ESG). 28. At a minimum, these efforts duplicate what the federal government already collects and assesses; at worst, they institute arbitrary procedures in real estate appraisal practices that undermine integrity and perversely introduce arbitrary biases into what should be an unbiased system for determining financial value. 29. Revise regulatory and subregulatory guidance, where applicable within statutory authorities, that adds unnecessary delay and costs to the construction and development of new housing and has been estimated to account for about 40 percent of new housing unit costs in multifamily housing. 30. The Biden Administration has issued a proposed rule to replace the Trump Administration’s “Preserving Community and Neighborhood Choice” rule that had repealed earlier rules expanding AFFH enforcement. See U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Fair Housing, “Preserving Community and Neighborhood Choice,” Final Rule, Federal Register, Vol. 85, No. 153 (August 7, 2020), pp. 47899–47912, https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2020-08-07/pdf/2020-16320.pdf (accessed March 5, 2023), and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of the Secretary, “Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing,” Proposed Rule, Federal Register, Vol. 88, No. 27 (February 9, 2023), pp. 8516–8590, https://www. govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2015-07-16/pdf/2015-17032.pdf (accessed March 5, 2023). 31. Certain pilot initiatives may encourage greater take-up of loan products designed for faster equity accumulation, including loans with shorter terms and accelerated amortization schedules. In concept, the FHA’s Home Equity Accelerator Loan (HEAL) and Good Neighbor Next Door (GNND) pilot initiatives might lead to meaningful wealth generation for first-time buyers, but they should be available to all eligible households only when they do not arbitrarily discriminate based on race or other characteristics. 32. Housing supply does remain a problem in the U.S., but constructing more units at the low end of the market will not solve the problem. Investors and developers can deliver at more efficient cost new units that will allow for greater upward mobility of rental and ownership housing stock and better target increased construction of mid-tier rental units. Further, and more fundamental to the housing supply challenge in markets across the U.S., localities can consider revising land use, zoning, and building regulations that constrict new housing development, adding time delays and costs that impede construction. Federal housing policy should get out of the way where possible and minimize the distortive impact that stimulating greater demand through loose lending can have in driving up housing prices for households that are looking for affordable entry into the housing market. 33. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of the Secretary, “Housing and Community Development Act of 1980: Verification of Eligible Status,” Proposed Rule, Federal Register, Vol. 84, No. 91 (May 10, 2019), pp. 20589–20595, https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2019-05-10/pdf/2019-09566.pdf (accessed March 5, 2023). 34. Reforms should contemplate rent payment flexibilities, allow escrow savings, and set maximum term limits that can reduce implicit penalties for increasing household incomes over eligibility terms for housing assistance and reweight waiting-list prioritization for two-parent households. 35. Some PHAs have been able to implement work requirements and term limit policies in various congressionally authorized demonstration programs, notably the Moving to Work (MTW) demonstration program established in 1996 for 39 PHAs (Congress has since authorized another 100 PHAs) in which participating MTW PHAs were given authority to implement rent reforms, work requirements and other experimental policies in rental assistance programs along with flexibilities in the use of capital and operating appropriations. 36. The FSS program has a general five-year term with a possible two-year extension, which could be applied at the term limit for overall benefits, and certain PHAs have imposed five-year to seven-year term limits. Families in these programs build escrow savings during their term eligibility that helps to facilitate successful transitions to family self-sufficiency and unassisted housing.
Showing 3 of 5 policy matches
About These Correlations
Policy matches are calculated using semantic similarity between bill summaries and Project 2025 policy text. A score of 60% or higher indicates meaningful thematic overlap. This does not imply direct causation or intent, but highlights areas where legislation aligns with Project 2025 policy objectives.