Jack Reed: “today, I am introducing the Affordable Housing and Homeownership Protection Act with Senators Smith, Gillibrand…”

“today, I am introducing the Affordable Housing and Homeownership Protection Act with Senators Smith, Gillibrand, Blumenthal, Klobuchar, Fetterman, and Baldwin. Our bill would provide up to $50 billion to help build and preserve approximately 3 million units of affordable housing and would be fully paid for through a transfer tax on investors who acquire and hold more than 15 single-family homes. Driven by a shortage of as many as 6.8 million homes nationwide, home prices have surged 39 percent and rents 31 percent over the last 4 years, according the National Association of Realtors and Zillow. Higher rents and fewer opportunities for home ownership are devastating for millions of families. As housing costs skyrocket, more households are priced out of home ownership, while renters have less to spend on food, clothing, and other everyday necessities. Low-income Americans are particularly strained. The National Low Income Housing Coalition estimates that 73 percent of extremely low- income households spend more than half their income on housing. Unsurprisingly, homelessness has risen in line with housing prices and is up 15 percent since 2019. Unfortunately, Federal investments in low-income housing are insufficient to solve this affordability crisis.…”