The Build Back Better Act: The Biggest Housing Bill In American History

     When people think of housing, they probably think of FDR, Harry Truman, and Lyndon Johnson, the former passing the Housing Acts of 1934 and 1937 that created the model for the modern 30-year mortgage and launched the first housing vouchers as part of his "New Deal," the middle passing the Housing Act of 1949 that created 800,000 news homes as part of his "Fair Deal," and the latter passing the Civil Rights Act of 1968 that banned housing discrimination as part of his "Great Society." Modern Democrats, however, deserve more credit than they get.

     During his administration, Bill Clinton secured tens of billions of dollars in additional funding for the Department of Housing and Urban Development to build hundreds of thousands homes, the largest housing investment to date, while also achieving the largest home ownership rate of any president in U.S. history, nearly 70 percent. President Obama focused on homelessness, cutting the overall rate by 15 percent, including more than half for veterans and their families, with the HEARTH Act. 

     With his Build Back Better Act, President Biden would not only join the ranks of these men, but beat them. Biden made only two big promises related to housing in his campaign (of the 100 big promises he made total), but they are both incredibly significant. One seemed generic: to lower the cost of housing. However, his promise was very specific in its details: to create a $100 billion Affordable Housing Fund. This bill will achieve that. The second was to cap the cost of Section 8 housing at 30 percent of a family's income. This would cost $113 billion. The Build Back Better Act would include at least $50 billion in funding for this initiative. While it will not cap it at 30 percent, it will make the largest lowering of this cap in American history.

     The Build Back Better Act alone would complete 70 percent of the president's housing agenda. However, that is not his only work in bolstering the supply of affordable housing. Aside from an executive order mobilizing billions of dollars in grant money and reducing red tape, he also provided billions of dollars of funding in the American Rescue Plan Act that is being used to build houses in states like Maine and California. All told, President Biden is on track to create millions of affordable homes for Americans in every corner of this great nation.

     It all starts with the Senate following the lead of the U.S. House of Representatives and passing the Build Back Better Act.