Van Hollen, Cardin, Push to Keep Major Investments in Affordable Housing in Build Back Better Package

As Maryland and many other states across the U.S. confront an unprecedented housing affordability crisis, U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen, a member of the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, and Senator Ben Cardin (both D-Md.) are working closely with their colleagues to ensure that comprehensive housing investments stay in President Biden’s Build Back Better plan. In a letter to President Joe Biden, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), and more than 30 senators called for making affordable housing an urgent issue for the Build Back Better Budget.    

“The Build Back Better plan is a rare opportunity to deliver critical investments that we have failed to make for far too long,” the senators wrote. “Housing challenges are different in every community, and we need different tools to address the growing problems they face. But with comprehensive investments, we can create, preserve, and improve millions of homes so that we bring down the cost of housing and improve its condition. And an investment in safe, affordable housing is central to the success of proposed investments in education, health, and our local economies. At the same time, investments in sustainable, energy-efficient housing can lower families’ bills, make our homes and communities more resilient to climate-driven disasters, and reduce our impact on the planet—all while creating good paying jobs.”

 The senators noted that housing is the most expensive item in most families’ budget, and that more than 10 million families spend more than half their income on housing each month. As the Build Back Better plan moves through Congress in the coming weeks, this moment represents a unique opportunity to reverse these trends and improve the day-to-day economic realities for millions of families across America.

Also signing the letter are: Senators Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Rev. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Catherine Cortez-Masto (D-Nev.), Angus King (I-Maine), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), and Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.).

The full text of the letter follows:

Dear Mr. President, Speaker Pelosi, and Majority Leader Schumer: 

We write to express the urgent need to invest in housing within legislation to enact President Biden’s Build Back Better plan. 

Housing is the most expensive part of most families’ budget. Nearly a quarter of renters – 10.5 million families – spend more than half their income on housing each month, and too many families who want to own their own home are locked out of the market. Nearly 19 million people live in a food desert, and 35 million homes have at least one health or safety hazard, including more than 4 million homes with young children that have lead paint hazards. Others require renovation to help an elderly family member or a person with a disability to remain in their home. And still more families do not have adequate housing at all. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic began, more than 580,000 people, including children and seniors, had no safe place to stay on any given night, and more than 3.7 million evictions were filed during the course of a year.

The Build Back Better plan is a rare opportunity to deliver critical investments that we have failed to make for far too long. Housing challenges are different in every community, and we need different tools to address the growing problems they face. But with comprehensive investments, we can create, preserve, and improve millions of homes so that we bring down the cost of housing and improve its condition. And an investment in safe, affordable housing is central to the success of proposed investments in education, health, and our local economies. At the same time, investments in sustainable, energy-efficient housing can lower families’ bills, make our homes and communities more resilient to climate-driven disasters, and reduce our impact on the planet – all while creating good paying jobs.  

Last month, the House Financial Services Committee advanced legislation to provide investments to expand affordable rental housing, help families access homeownership, remove lead paint and other health hazards from homes, repair public and assisted rural housing, address climate change, and invest in neighborhoods. Build Back Better legislation must include these kinds of comprehensive investments in rental housing, affordable homeownership, and community needs in urban, rural, and Tribal areas. 

To invest in American families, we must invest in the homes and the communities where those families live. As we work to create a Build Back Better package, we must make investments in housing opportunity a central pillar of the plan because, as Evicted author Matthew Desmond wrote last week, “the success of all other opportunity-expanding initiatives depends on it.”

The COVID-19 crisis revealed the depth of our country’s affordable housing crisis at the same time that it revealed how important our homes are to our health, our well-being, and our lives. We must take this opportunity to build back better by addressing housing needs in communities across the nation.

Sincerely,