Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Chair of the Senate Housing, Transportation and Community Development Subcommittee, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14) unveiled the HOMES Act that would reimagine housing in America, making a historic and long overdue investment in our nation’s housing supply. The bill would help build and preserve as many as 1.3 million homes in small towns, big cities, and rural communities; and help families everywhere find a quality, affordable place to call home. The two are joined on the legislation by Senators Peter Welch (D-VT) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and 34 members in the House of Representatives, so far.
“Without a safe, decent and affordable place to live, nothing in your life works. It becomes nearly impossible to hold a job, go to school, or stay healthy,” said Senator Smith. “Our country is facing a housing crisis, with annual supply falling dramatically behind demand. Our proposal would serve renters, and homebuyers alike, providing millions of Americans in rural and urban communities with more options for a quality, affordable place to call home—with the sense of stability, security, comfort and pride that should come with it. Housing is a human right—this is a bill that meets the urgency of the moment we are in.”
“Every day, we see families grappling with the harsh reality of the housing crisis—skyrocketing rents, evictions, and homelessness—while big banks and Wall Street prioritize profit over people. The Homes Act is our bold response to this crisis, investing $300 billion over the next decade to ensure everyone can access an affordable home,” said Rep Ocasio-Cortez. “We cannot stand by while families are forced to choose between paying rent and putting food on the table. This isn’t just about building structures; it’s about restoring hope, dignity, and the American Dream for all, not just a privileged few.”
Today, in more than 90 percent of U.S. counties, minimum wage workers cannot afford to rent even a modest one-bedroom apartment. More than half of America’s 44 million renters are spending more than 30% of their income on rent, more than ever before. Meanwhile, corporate landlords are raking in record profits and deep-pocketed investors are buying up real estate with all-cash offers. Working families are bidding against the world’s biggest banks for homes.
The Homes Act offers and suggests a new choice for housing – a public option – to meet the needs of people and communities that aren’t being served by the private market. These new options would be supported by a housing development authority, which will function as a public bank and developer and work directly with state, local and Tribal governmental agencies, mission-driven nonprofits, community land trusts and public housing authorities to build, rehabilitate, and maintain millions of sustainable, permanently affordable homes. The legislation would create more than 400,000 good-paying jobs a year, including more than 150,000 construction jobs each year, with special labor protections on the projects that will make it more likely that union members build this housing.
With its focus on building and maintaining 1.3 million homes, the Homes Act would chart a new path forward for Americans looking for an affordable place to live, and give people a new option for housing. The bill would:
- Establish a national Housing Development Authority to acquire and develop real estate to create and maintain a stock of permanent, sustainable, affordable housing, including single- and multi-family housing, with robust tenant protections.
- Empower local communities to address their specific housing needs by financing real estate acquisition or conveying property to public housing authorities, mission-driven nonprofits, tenant- or resident-owned cooperatives, state or local governments, and community land trusts.
- Require the housing development authority to maintain portfolio-wide affordability by setting aside 40% of units for extremely-low income households and 30% of units for low-income households.
- Cap rents for units financed under the Act at 25% of a household’s adjusted gross income and cannot increase more than 3% per year.
- Support homeownership by allowing residents to purchase homes under shared equity models and providing relief to mortgage borrowers at risk of foreclosure due to market instability or economic distress.
- Provide the workers building this new housing with strong labor protections.
- Provide tenants with opportunities to come together to purchase their buildings prior to large, for-profit developers buying them.
- Provide funding to rehabilitate and address the backlog of necessary improvements for public housing and repeal the Faircloth Amendment to allow new public housing.
- Authorize $30 billion in annual appropriations, combined with a revolving loan fund to recoup and reinvest funds back into housing.
“Families and communities in rural states like Vermont have also been hit hard by the housing shortage, with our state experiencing record-high rates of housing insecurity. We need bold solutions to this crisis—and these solutions should be led by those who are doing the work on the ground to get folks a safe and permanently affordable place to live. The HOMES Act importantly will create a new authority within HUD to build and rehabilitate more affordable housing, treating housing like the social good it is,” said Senator Welch.
“When I worked with Habitat for Humanity, I saw every day how lives were changed for the better when folks could afford a good home in a decent community,” said Senator Merkley. “Everyone in America should have a safe, affordable roof overhead. Relying on the private market won’t solve our housing crisis—especially as hedge funds gobble up entire blocks in our neighborhoods, increasing the price to buy and rent a home. We need bold solutions to this complex issue, and the Homes Act is one important piece of that puzzle.”
“As chair of the Renters Caucus, I’m proud to support the Homes Act, which will level the playing field of our housing market to help everyday renters and aspiring homeowners. It’s past time we addressed our nation’s desperate need for affordable housing,” said Rep. Jimmy Gomez, Chair of the Congressional Renters Caucus. “This bill will lead us in the right direction by establishing the Housing Development Authority to keep housing affordable for those who need it most.
So far, the legislation is endorsed by the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), United Auto Workers (UAW), Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Center for American Progress, Center for Popular Democracy, Minnesota Pipe Trades, North Central States Regional Council of Carpenters, UAW Region 9A, and the Tenant Union Federation, with more organizations expected to endorse over time.
“For far too long, the government has enabled the business practices of private landlords, often at the expense of tenants. The Homes Act intervenes in the imbalance of power between landlords and tenants, creating alternatives to the profit-driven market. This is an essential step towards guaranteeing safe and permanently affordable homes for everyone,” said Tara Raghuveer, Director of the Tenant Union Federation. The Tenant Union Federation (TUF) is headquartered in Kansas City, MO.
Tristin Amezcua-Hogan is the Editor of The Labor Beacon and a member of LIUNA Local 264. Tristin also serves as the Director of Communications for the Greater Kansas City AFL-CIO and the Chair of the Kansas City Regional Transit Alliance.
Tristin grew up as the son of a UA Local 669 member in Tecumseh, KS and the great-nephew of George C. Amis, longtime leader of the United Rubberworkers (now USW Local 307) in Kansas. Growing up in rural Kansas as the child of teen parents, Tristin quickly came to appreciate the life-changing benefit of a union job.
Tristin and his partner, Rebeca Amezcua-Hogan, are residents of the Westside, Kansas City, MO's historic Mexican neighborhood. They are proud members of Kansas City's New Reform Temple.
