Young, Bipartisan Senators Reintroduce Bill to Establish Housing Affordability Task Force

WASHINGTON — Today, U.S. Senators Todd Young (R-Ind.), Angus King (I-Maine), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), John Kennedy (R-La.), and Jon Tester (D-Mont.) reintroduced the Task Force on the Impact of the Affordable Housing Crisis Act, which aims to better understand and respond to America’s housing affordability crisis by creating a bipartisan housing task force. The task force would evaluate and quantify the impact of housing costs on other government programs, and provide recommendations to Congress on how to increase affordable housing options in order to improve life outcomes.

“I’ve seen firsthand in Indiana how a lack of affordable housing has negative and lasting consequences. The inability to access safe and affordable homes leaves Hoosier families with fewer dollars to spend on important expenses like health care and groceries, and the pandemic has only exacerbated this problem,” said Senator Young. “Our bipartisan bill would assemble a group of experts to better understand the housing affordability crisis so that we might take legislative action to end the cycle of poverty for millions of struggling Americans while decreasing overall taxpayer expenditures.”

“Communities across Maine and across the country continue to struggle with a shortage of affordable housing, forcing too many Americans to choose between keeping a roof over their head or food on the table,” said Senator King. “This challenge cuts across party lines, and affects rural, urban, and suburban households alike. A problem of this magnitude deserves a pragmatic, bipartisan effort to find a solution. I am hopeful that this task force will give us the information we need to confront this challenge and ensure all Americans have access to affordable housing.”

“We have an affordable housing crisis in the State of Washington and across the United States, and the COVID-19 pandemic has only made this crisis worse. We must act. I know that we can work in a bipartisan basis to both stimulate our economy and solve the affordable housing crisis,” said Senator Cantwell.

Specifically, the task force will:

1. Evaluate and quantify the impact that a lack of affordable housing has on other areas of life and life outcomes for individuals living in the United States, including education, employment, income level, health, nutrition, access to transportation, and poverty level in the neighborhood in which individuals live, regional economic growth, and neighborhood and rural community stability and revitalization.
2. Evaluate and quantify the costs incurred by other Federal, State, and local programs due to a lack of affordable housing.
3. Make recommendations to Congress on how to use affordable housing to improve the effectiveness of other Federal programs and improve life outcomes for individuals living in the United States.

When the Task Force on the Impact of the Affordable Housing Crisis Act was first introduced in 2019, it earned the support of over 70 organizations. For a full list of supporters, click here.

For the full bill text, click here.

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