BY CHRISTIAN BRITSCHGI | REASON
They say all politics is local, and that’s particularly true of housing politics—where localities and (increasingly) states are the main policy-setting jurisdictions.
Nevertheless, the federal government does influence housing policy and housing outcomes through any number of regulatory and spending programs.
We got a reminder of that this past week with the release of two major federal housing initiatives.
In Congress, the Sens. Tim Scott (R–S.C.) and Elizabeth Warren (D–Mass.) announced a surprise, and surprisingly bipartisan, blockbuster bill in the Senate Banking Committee. It includes a long list of tweaks and reforms aimed at boosting housing supply.
The same day that that bill was proposed, the White House issued a new executive order on homelessness that aims to shift federal policy and federal funding from a “housing first” approach toward one focused primarily on guaranteeing public order.
