Garamendi reintroduces HOME Act for affordable housing
U.S. Rep. John Garamendi helped reintroduce legislation this week aiming to help the affordable housing crisis.
Along with Ohio Democrat Joyce Beatty, an updated HOME Investment Partnerships Reauthorization and Improvement Act was reintroduced that aims to increase the amount of federal funds available for affordable housing across the country. Companion legislation is being introduced in the U.S. Senate by Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (DNev).
“Hardworking Californians face a drastic shortage of affordable housing options,” said Garamendi in a news release on Tuesday. “Minimum wage workers have to work an 88hour week on average to afford a modest one-bedroom rental at a fair market rate. This legislation reauthorizes the HOME Investment Partnership Program for the first time since 1994 to bring this crucial program into the 21st century and provide states and local governments with the funding to construct and rehabilitate affordable rental housing as well as provide homeownership opportunities for working families.”
The HOME Investment Partnerships Program is the largest federal affordable housing block grant and is HUD's flagship affordable housing production program. Since 1990, HOME 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. It also provides additional funding to housing developments financed by the LowIncome Housing Tax Credit, helping the program serve more extremely low-income people including seniors, veterans, those experiencing homelessness, and people with disabilities.
Since 1992, the HOME program in California has:
Invested $5.27 billion into housing across the state.
Built or preserved 121,727 homes.
Given rental assistance to 43,840 families.
Supported 277,318 jobs. Generated $19.2 billion in local income.
The program was last re-authorized in 1994 and needs critical updates to better address today's housing crisis. Garamendi's HOME Investment Partnerships Reauthorization and Improvement Act would reau
thorize the HOME program and make several muchneeded improvements. Specifically, it would:
Authorize $5 billion in HOME funding for fiscal year 2024 and boost the funding for the program by five percent annually through 2028. Garamendi's legislation would address chronic underfunding of the affordable housing investment program, which received only $1.5 billion in 2023.
Improve HOME's ability to provide down payment assistance to homebuyers and home repair assistance to homeowners.
Enable HOME funds to support Community Land Trusts and other shared equity homeownership programs.
Increase access to HOME funds for nonprofits and provide state and local governments loan guarantee options that would allow them to leverage their future HOME funds for investments today.