The Impact Of The National Housing Bill On The Chicago Area

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**Sasha Ann Simons** (0:49)
Hey Chicago, I'm Sasha Ann Simons, and this is In the Loop.
As always, stick around for a rundown of the latest news here in the Chicago area at the end of the episode. But first, buying a home has become increasingly out of reach for too many Americans, and this week members of Congress took a giant step to change that. They passed a bipartisan housing reform package that would restrict investors from buying up single-family homes, cut some of the red tape for new construction, and expand affordable housing. But then, President Trump stepped in and gave an ultimatum, saying he wouldn't sign the bill unless Congress also passed new restrictions on voter ID and mail-in voting. So is this glimmer of affordable housing hope gone? Let's dig into it. At the table, Bob Palmer, Policy Director for Housing Action Illinois, Geoff Smith, who's Executive Director of the Institute for Housing Studies at Depaul University, and Allison Clements, who's Executive Director of the Illinois Housing Council.
I started with getting my panel's reaction to Trump's roadblock. Bob went first.

**Bob Palmer** (1:56)
Well, obviously, we hope he changes his mind and signs it and Congress appeals to him because this is a very important bill. There's over 40 different provisions in it that support affordable housing in various ways. So we hope it gets signed.

**Sasha Ann Simons** (2:09)
Yeah. Geoff?

**Geoff Smith** (2:11)
Agreed. I mean, I think it addresses one of the core challenges of the current housing crisis, which is the need to build more housing. So I think it's an important bill that hopefully moves forward.

**Sasha Ann Simons** (2:20)
What came to mind when you heard that, Allison?

**Allison Clements** (2:23)
We know there's a lot of bipartisan support for housing. This was really a huge victory that Congress passed this housing reform bill. And so like Bob and Geoff said, we're hopeful that it will move forward.

**Sasha Ann Simons** (2:36)
Yeah. So let's dig into it. So the New York Times reported, it's the first time in more than 30 years that Congress has done something like this, right, passed a major legislative package that could make housing actually more affordable. So Bob, can you break down what the 21st Century Road to Housing Act actually calls for?

**Bob Palmer** (2:53)
I will do my best. Again, there's 40 provisions more than that. So I won't try and summarize them all. But I think broadly it has various provisions to increase housing supply and through incentives and pilot programs get local governments to do more, to give more tools to affordable housing developers. I'm sure Allison can talk about it includes provisions on like manufactured housing, also appraisals, allowing homeowners and buyers to appeal appraisals if they don't agree with them and many other provisions. But the focus is on increasing housing supply and affordability.

**Sasha Ann Simons** (3:28)
Sure. How historic would you say that this is?

**Bob Palmer** (3:31)
You know, I have mixed feelings about it and obviously we'll see how it gets implemented.
It is a lot of pilot programs, a lot of things that are subject to appropriation, a lot of things that are subject to how the Trump administration implements them. I think obviously the bar for Congress accomplishing anything these days is very low. So just the fact that there was bipartisan support and the House and Senate working together is a major accomplishment. And again shows that there's really increased public awareness that housing affordability both for owners and renters and people experiencing homelessness is really at unprecedented negative levels.

**Sasha Ann Simons** (4:06)
Yeah.
Geoff and Allison, I want to hear from you. I mean, is the passing of this legislation, you think, is a move in the right direction? And tell me if, sort of like Bob alluded to there, if this bill might have you concerned about some things. Allison?

**Allison Clements** (4:22)
I think it's a move in the right direction. We know it's going to reduce the barriers that exist for development in local communities, both on the market rate side, but also on the subsidized affordable housing side. One of the biggest provisions in the bill was raising what's called the Public Welfare Investment Cap. This is the threshold that exists for banks for which they can invest in specific affordable housing programs like the Low Income Housing Tax Credit Program, which is really the most important tool we have to develop affordable rental housing.