Earlier this week, both houses of Congress passed a bipartisan rural housing package led by U.S. House Financial Services Committee Chairman French Hill (R-AR) and the measure now moves to the president’s desk for consideration.
“Housing is the gateway to opportunity, stability, and economic prosperity,” Rep. Hill said. “Housing affordability starts with supply, and this bill makes meaningful progress toward building more homes and lowering costs for American families.”
The congressman in December 2025 sponsored the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, H.R. 6644, alongside lead original cosponsor U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), the committee’s ranking member, to revise federal housing programs, including by expanding available financing for affordable housing and providing grants for planning and community development activities.
The U.S. Senate on June 22 substantially amended and then voted to approve the bill. It then returned to the U.S. House of Representatives for reconciliation, followed by final approval via a suspension vote on June 23.
“If we want to build a stronger nation where working families can succeed, it starts with taking our housing crisis head on by expanding affordability, increasing access, boosting supply, and creating pathways to homeownership,” said Rep. Hill. “This bicameral product reflects meaningful House equities – including community banking provisions, protections against institutional investors crowding families out of the housing market, and updates HUD’s HOME Investment Partnership Program.”
Among numerous provisions, H.R. 6644 also would increase the maximum eligible income for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD’s) HOME Investment Partnerships Program, and would establish a grant program to assist regional, state, and local entities with strategies to support affordable housing, according to the Congressional Record bill summary.
In addition, the bill would exempt certain housing-related activities from the environmental review process, including certain construction, improvement, or rehabilitation of residential buildings; exclude veterans’ disability benefits from being considered as income for purposes of determining eligibility for the Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (VASH) program; and create a pilot program to provide grants to public housing agencies and other owners of federally assisted housing to test the efficacy of temperature sensors to support compliance with temperature requirements.
Rep. Waters noted that the bill was no small feat and it required difficult conversations and tough negotiations to get across the finish line.
“But in the end, we delivered stronger, more impactful legislation with more housing opportunities for the American people,” she said. “However, our work is far from over and this is not the end of the conversation. It is the beginning of a renewed effort to tackle our housing affordability crisis and ensure every American has access to a safe, decent, and affordable place to call home.”
The updated package reflects years of bipartisan work to cut red tape and remove unnecessary barriers to new home construction, as well as providing needed relief to community banks, the lawmakers said.