[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 14 (Thursday, January 25, 2024)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E72-E73]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




REINTRODUCTION OF THE HOME INVESTMENT PARTNERSHIPS REAUTHORIZATION AND 
                            IMPROVEMENT ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JOHN GARAMENDI

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, January 25, 2024

  Mr. GARAMENDI. Mr. Speaker, I am thrilled to reintroduce the ``HOME 
Investment Partnerships Reauthorization and Improvement Act,'' with 
Representative Joyce Beatty (D-OH03).

[[Page E73]]

I thank our original cosponsors for their support, as well as U.S. 
Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) for sponsoring the companion 
bill. This updated legislation would significantly increase federal 
funding available for affordable housing across the country to tackle 
the housing crisis in states like California.
  With historically high housing costs, a minimum wage worker in 
California must work an 88-hour week on average to afford a modest one-
bedroom rental at a fair market rate. No American working full-time 
should live in poverty or be forced into homelessness. Congress and the 
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) must support 
collaborative solutions to incentivize affordable housing production 
and rental assistance to address the drastic shortage of housing 
options in California and across the country.
  The HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) is the largest 
federal affordable housing block grant and is HUD's flagship program to 
support private developers and nonprofits building new affordable 
housing. Since established by Congress in 1990, the HOME program has 
helped state and local housing agencies support a wide variety of 
housing needs, from financing new construction and home repairs to 
funding down payment and rental assistance. HOME funding is the primary 
federal tool available for state and local governments to build 
affordable rental and owner-occupied housing for low-income to 
extremely low-income families with private developers. Moreover, HOME 
is a great federal investment, leveraging $4.76 in non-federal public 
and private funds for every dollar in HOME funding.
  Since 1992, the HOME program has supported more than 1.36 million 
units of affordable housing for renters, home buyers, and homeowners. 
In California, the HOME program has invested $5.27 billion into 
affordable housing across the state; built or preserved 121,727 homes; 
given rental assistance to 43,810 families; supported 277,318 jobs; and 
generated $19.2 billion in local economic development.
  Despite these incredible investments, this essential program was last 
reauthorized in 1994 and needs critical updates to better address 
today's housing crisis. Our legislation would not only reauthorize the 
HOME program for the first time in three decades, but also make several 
much-needed improvements.
  Specifically, our bicameral ``HOME Investment Partnerships 
Reauthorization and Improvement Act'' would authorize $5 billion in 
HOME funding for fiscal year 2024 and boost the funding for the program 
by five percent annually through fiscal year 2028. This critical 
investment would reverse the chronic underfunding of the affordable 
housing investment program, which Congress appropriated only $1.5 
billion in fiscal year 2023.
  In addition, our bill would allow HUD to make loan guarantees under 
the HOME program, leveraging limited federal resources to allow state 
and local participating jurisdictions to tap more generous private 
financing to build new affordable housing. It would also improve HUD's 
ability to provide downpayment assistance to homebuyers and home repair 
assistance to homeowners under the HOME program. Moreover our bill 
would unlock HOME funds for nonprofits, community land trusts, and 
other shared equity homeownership partnerships to make more and better 
affordable housing available to those Americans most in need.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members of Congress to cosponsor the ``HOME 
Investment Partnerships Reauthorization and Improvement Act'' to bring 
this critical HUD program into the 21st century and provide state and 
local partners with the financing needed to construct and rehabilitate 
affordable rental housing and provide homeownership opportunities for 
working families. Lastly, I want to thank my former Legislative 
Assistant, Mr. Tigran Agdaian, for his critically important role in 
developing this legislation during the 116th Congress while on my 
staff.

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