Voters on both sides of the political aisle see housing affordability as a key issue facing the country, though ideas on how to address it may differ. One of those is the American Housing and Economic Mobility Act, co-sponsored by U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-GA, a sprawling, $550 billion plan that would fund construction of three million new units of housing for middle and low-income Americans.
“Despite working harder, Georgians are struggling more than ever to put a roof over their families’ heads. And in almost every community in America — rural, suburban, urban — we’re in the middle of an affordable housing crisis,” said Warnock Thursday.
The bill would seek to raise taxes on the upper class, with the brunt of the money going toward the federal Housing Trust Fund which would construct some two million homes for low-income families. That investment would drive down rent prices and additional incentives would urge municipal governments to relax zoning laws to allow for more multi-family housing.
“The only way to dig our country out of this housing crisis is to build more housing so everyone has a place to call home,” Warren said in a statement. “My bill will make bold investments in our country’s housing and encourage local innovation to lower housing costs even more — and it’s all paid for by getting America’s wealthiest families to chip in.”
The partisan bill, which would also add much stricter estate tax thresholds, has zero Republican supporters so far – so don’t expect it to advance before we see who takes the White House next.
