•Press Release Housing
Washington DC — This month, Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN.), Chair of the Senate Housing, Transportation and Community Development Subcommittee, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14) introduced the Homes Act, a bill that would build or maintain 1.3 million homes on the social housing model.
CEPR’s Director of Race and Economic Justice Algernon Austin welcomed the introduction of the Homes Act, and released the following statement:
“CEPR has pointed out that there has been an insufficient supply of affordable housing from at least as early as the 1960s, and the problem has gotten steadily worse over time. Although hundreds of thousands of people are on waiting lists for public housing, policymakers have capped the supply of public housing with the Faircloth Amendment, thereby guaranteeing that the demand for public housing is never met.
“Sen. Tina Smith and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez recognize the country’s dire affordable housing crisis and are working to address it with the introduction of the Homes Act. This bill would build or maintain 1.3 million homes on the social housing model. These homes would be permanently affordable not-for-profit housing designed for quality, safety, and accessibility.
“In addition to the 1.3 million homes, the Homes Act addresses key current needs for public housing. If passed, the Homes Act would repeal the Faircloth Amendment and provide the funds to carry out the desperately needed repairs in public housing.
“The Homes Act is an important step forward in providing quality permanently affordable housing in the United States.”
