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Bipartisan housing bills would modernize HOME program; Columbia staff say reforms could unlock local capacity
Summary
Officials briefed the council on bipartisan House and Senate housing bills that would modernize and reauthorize the HOME Investment Partnerships Program; staff said reforms could improve local use of HOME and urged continued advocacy while noting two Senate provisions may complicate final passage.
City staff told council members that both the House and Senate have advanced major housing legislation — the first comprehensive housing reauthorization since 1992 — and that the bills would reauthorize and modernize the HOME Investment Partnerships Program, a long-standing local priority.
A presenter said both chambers had passed versions of a housing bill and that the Senate had adopted roughly 75% of the House bill’s provisions, including key HOME program reforms that local officials have sought for decades. The presenter described the legislative effort as broadly bipartisan and said the changes could allow localities to use HOME dollars more effectively.
The presenter flagged two potential roadblocks to final passage: a Senate provision that would limit big investors from purchasing single-family homes and another provision that would bar the Federal Reserve from issuing a central-bank digital currency before 2030. The speaker described both as “non-starters” with some House Republicans and said negotiations will be required to reach a compromise.
From the city’s perspective, staff emphasized that modernizing HOME could be consequential. "We've been asking for these kinds of changes to the HOME program for probably a quarter century," the presenter said, adding that the reforms would, if enacted, “unleash the HOME program for you to do some good things with those dollars.”
City officials also discussed core federal programs that fund local housing and community development, noting that CDBG and HOME funding levels have largely been held flat in recent appropriations and that advocacy remains necessary to secure higher appropriations or programmatic fixes.
What’s next: staff said they will continue advocacy with members of Congress and prepare to take advantage of the program reforms if the housing bills become law. They recommended tracking final compromise language and potential funding increases.
