“A bill to establish a grant program to increase the local housing supply, and for other purposes.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section establishes an Innovation Fund grant program, to be administered by HUD not later than one year after enactment, to award competitive grants—at least 25 annually, unless insufficiently funded—to eligible entities that have demonstrated objective improvement in housing supply growth, as determined by HUD using a methodology published in the Federal Register for at least 90 days of public comment prior to the notice of funding opportunity. Eligible entities include metropolitan cities or urban counties and units of general local government or Indian tribes, as defined in the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974. Grant funds may be used for (1) Community Development Block Grant (CDBG)-eligible activities; (2) activities under the DOT Local and Regional Project Assistance Program; (3) matching funds for EPA clean water or drinking water State Revolving Funds; or (4) initiatives supplementing the entity's ongoing efforts to expand attainable housing supply (i.e., housing serving a majority of households at or below 80% of area median income (AMI) plus households up to 100% AMI, or a majority at or below 60% AMI plus households up to 120% AMI), such as zoning reforms (e.g., allowing denser by-right development, eliminating parking minimums), streamlining permitting, or reducing construction costs. Applications must describe proposed uses tied to the entity's consolidated plan (i.e., comprehensive housing affordability strategy under 42 U.S.C. 12705), provide data on recent housing supply increases, and detail prior or ongoing supply-expansion initiatives. HUD must publish a list of eligible entities on its website.