Biden-Harris Win Opens Path to Federal Action on Housing – Sightline Institute

Short of a few more final battleground state vote counts to drop and a victory speech, it looks like we can start calling Joe Biden the president-elect. The good news is Biden has a great plan for federal action on housing. Enacting Biden-Harris housing policy priorities would improve security for millions of Americans and help reverse the crippling shortage of homes afflicting communities throughout the US.

The bad news is a Republican-controlled Senate will block most, if not all of it.

The Senatean institution inherently designed to allow minority rulehas a long history of obstruction. Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell blockaded almost all of President Barack Obamas agenda when given the chance. The Senate under his leadership rendered hundreds of House proposals DOA, including numerous housing measures. Not to mention stalling pandemic stimulus that would keep Americans securely in their homes as the economic and health crisis deepens.

With the Senate in Republican hands, unless McConnell unexpectedly stops being McConnell and allows bipartisan compromise, Bidens most ambitious housing proposals look destined for demise.

Georgias two Senate runoff elections in January offer an opportunity for Democrats to take back the Senate, but chances are slim. In all likelihood, Senate-driven gridlock will stymie federal progressnot only on housing policy, but also on other paramount issues such as climate changeat least until Democrats get their next shot at the Senate in 2022. Elections matter.

As for near-term action on housing, emergency rental assistance is still a possibility. Contradicting his pre-election position, McConnell now says hell prioritize a COVID stimulus package that includes aid to states when Congress reconvenes next week. No guarantees rental assistance will end up in the bill, but its been a consistent priority for Democrats.

Also, two modest bills that would require cities to account for their needless restrictions on homebuildingthe YIMBY Act and the Build More Housing Near Transit Actstill have a shot at passing (see my take on those proposals).

For at least a decade now, Americans have been grappling with a worsening housing crisis. In some places, stagnant incomes are to blame. In other places awash in high-paying jobs but hamstrung with restrictions on new housing, competition prices out even middle class families.

The federal government has unmatched potential to take on these two core problems. The solution rests on two policy pillars: (1) expand financial support for those who cant afford housing, and (2) impel cities to loosen their rules and allow more homes. Joe Bidens housing plan incorporates both, synthesizing many proposals put forth by his more left-leaning presidential primary challengers. Its a really good plan!

In stark contrast, Trump never had any kind of coherent housing strategy, and spent the final months of his campaign tweeting that low-income housing would destroy suburbiaa dog whistle aimed at undermining both policy pillars.

Here are the five essential elements of Bidens housing plan:

The $20 billion program currently provides vouchers for two million low-income households to help them pay rent, but funding only covers about a fourth of those that qualify. Biden calls for fully funding Section 8 so that everyone eligible gets the assistance they need to pay their rent for a safe home.

(Trump proposed cutting Section 8 funding by 20 percent, raising the tenants rent payment portion from 30 to 35 percent, and adding work requirements for recipients.)

Bidens plan includes renter tax credit similar to the one proposed in Vice President-elect Kamala Harris 2018 Rent Relief Act. With a price tag of $5 billion, its designed to reduce rent and utilities to 30 percent of income for low-income individuals and families who may make too much money to qualify for a Section 8 voucher but still struggle to pay their rent.

The Biden plan would:

(Trumps 2021 budget request proposed to slash HUDs budget by 15 percent, cut public housing operation funds by 21 percent, and eliminate both the Housing Trust Fund and CDBGs.)

Bidens plan commits to:

Modeling on Senator Cory Bookers HOME Act of 2019, the Biden plan would make CDBGs and Transportation Block Grants contingent on cities adopting strategies to get rid of exclusionary zoning laws that stymie construction of new homes. It would also add such reforms as a condition for other funding programs where possible, and offer local planning grants to support the necessary policy changes.

The plan explicitly calls out how overly restrictive zoning laws keep people of color and low-income families out of certain communities, limit affordable housing options, and contribute to urban sprawl and climate pollution.

(In 2019, Trump signed an executive order establishing a council to eliminate federal, state and local barriers that are holding back affordable housing development. But his subsequent tweets and speeches blatantly contradict that intent.)

The spending required for the first three plan actions described above all but rules out passage by a Republican-controlled Senate. And Republican ideology would likely preclude votes for the fourth.

As demonstrated by bipartisan support for the YIMBY Act, some Republicans are working to pass action on housing similar to the fifth element of Bidens plan noted above. However, members on both sides of the aisle are likely to lose their stomach for bills that push too far on federal control over local governments. All told, the most impactful elements of Bidens housing plan are pretty much dead in the water without Democrats in control of the Senate (and House).

If and when Democrats do take back the Senate, another big hurdle remains. The filibuster ensures that most, if not all, of Bidens major housing proposals would need 60 voteshighly improbable under the likely scenario of a slim Democrat majority. To escape that dysfunction, a Democratic majority could end minority rule and eliminate the filibuster once and for all.

New multi-family homes. Photo: Lawcain, Dreamstime.com

With the filibuster still in place, there is a workaround that could enable passage of parts of Bidens plan: budget reconciliation. Increased funding for existing programs can be passed as part of a budget reconciliation bill thats immune to filibuster and therefore only requires a simple majority vote. One of Bidens key proposalsthe plan to quadruple Section 8 fundingis fair game through reconciliation, and likewise boosting the Housing Trust Fund.

To finish my thought experiment, lets assume that after the 2022 election Democrats control the Senate and abolish the filibuster. That would open the door to taking Bidens good ideas for federal action on housing reform even further, on both policy pillars(1) funds for subsidy and (2) leverage for local zoning reform.

On the first pillar, Bidens intention to expand Section 8 vouchers is a good start but falls short because it doesnt make Section 8 a true, permanent entitlement. That means Congress must appropriate new funding every budget cycle, repeatedly putting the program at political risk.

More importantly, it also means that everyone who needs aid isnt necessarily coveredthe massive unemployment caused by the pandemic is a good example of how that could happen. As my colleague Michael Andersen has written, a critical fix for Section 8 is to make benefits an entitlement, like food stamps, automatically available to anyone whose income drops below a set level.

Another problem with Section 8 is most landlords dont accept the vouchers. That makes approved rentals hard to find, plus newly qualifying tenants have to move if their current landlord refuses Section 8. The obvious (but also politically fraught) fix is a federal mandate for universal acceptance of vouchers. Alternatively, a better long-term solution is a complete revamp to a program that gives struggling renters the flexibility and freedom of straight up cash instead of vouchers.

For the second pillar, Bidens embrace of the HOME Act is a solid first step. But its only a small one, because the HOME Act has no prescriptive teeth: cities dont have to loosen restrictions on housing to remain eligible for federal funds, they only have to demonstrate their intentions to do so someday.

To have a meaningful impact, federal laws must have the kind of teeth that spurs widespread local law changes to allow more homes. In a previous article I described the key elements, including funding types, carrots and sticks, and regulatory versus outcome-based compliance.

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortezs A Place to Prosper Act shows one way a prescriptive policy could work. It would deny federal road funding for projects located in a city that mandates off-street parking, requires lot sizes larger than one half acre, or bans multi-unit homes or manufactured homes.

In September, the Urban Institute published a report on how the federal government can help eliminate exclusionary zoning. The authors make an important point to focus on conditioning funds that go to states, because most of the federal dollars received by local jurisdictions flow through states first.

Voters took the first necessary step for federal action on housing policy by ousting Trump. Unfortunately, as long as the Senate remains under Republican control, progress on the bold ideas in Joe Bidens housing plan are unlikely to ever see the light of day.

Any ambitious federal action is now a longer term game.

One option would be for Republicans and Democrats to find some way to compromise across party lines. Yes, the possibility seems remote today. But thats exactly what happened last year with Oregons state-wide legalization of duplexes, triplexes and fourplexes and Californias legalization of up to two cottages on any lot. Republicans, especially in rural areas, crossed party lines to support Democratic pro-housing bills because they felt someone should be allowed to add a home to their property if they want to.

The other option for action on housing is purely partisan. First, Democrats must take back the Senate under a pro-housing president like Biden. Then they must abolish the filibuster.

Congress can then pass the kind of bold legislation the country needs on two fronts: cash assistance for people who need help to pay the rent, and federal guidance to ensure that citiesallow enough homes of all shapes and sizes for us all, no matter our race, income, or where we live.

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Biden-Harris Win Opens Path to Federal Action on Housing - Sightline Institute