'It's Not Just A Supply Issue': Cortez Masto Promotes Bill Updating HUD Program To Lower Home Costs

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During last Wednesday's Senate Banking Committee hearing, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) questioned witnesses about her bill to reauthorize and update the Department of Housing and Urban Development's HOME Program, and the need to increase housing supply to improve affordability.  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript   Stay Connected Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com

Transcript

00:00Yes, sir. Senator Cortez Masto.

00:03Thank you. Thank you, Chairman Scott and to our ranking member for holding this hearing.

00:06I so appreciate it. This is such an issue as you can only imagine and hear right now

00:11across the country, including in Nevada. So I and I thank you, the panelists, for your

00:17candor and not taking the bait sometimes when some of my colleagues try to bait you into

00:22some conversations. The truth matters. And most importantly, how do we address housing

00:28matters and being honest about it? So let me talk a little bit about Nevada, because

00:33one of the things I do know, it is a supply issue. There's no doubt about it. We have

00:37to address the supply, but we also have to address the affordability. I have working

00:44families that can't afford homes. So it's not just the supply. It's how do we ensure

00:49that no matter your station in life, you can afford that home? Because the homes that are

00:53being built in my state are a little bit more costly, quite honestly, because we get

00:59federal land. Eighty percent of the land is owned by the federal government. So the first

01:03step in building housing is getting that land from the federal government. That's the first

01:08cost that now is associated with building those homes. So now we have to figure out

01:13how we level the playing field so we can lower those costs. It is about building, but it's

01:18also the financing that goes into that building to ensure that we can keep some of those costs

01:23low enough for those families, those working families, to be able to afford these homes.

01:29And one of those programs that we have at the federal level that I still believe in,

01:34I think we need to continue to utilize it and modernize it, is the home program. And

01:41so let me, Ms. Willis, let me ask you. I have a bill, which is the home bill, which is S-948.

01:49And what it does is the home program that was, I want to say it was created in 1994,

01:55has not been reauthorized, reformed, or anything since 1994. So what I've done is taken it,

02:01updated it, to make sure it works better for our families and our communities, and introduced

02:07it yesterday. So, Ms. Willis, can I ask you, how does the home program contribute to building

02:14more affordable homes for those working families, like in my state, where we have to address

02:20one key piece of that cost, which is getting that federal land first?

02:24Thank you for the question. And also, thank you for your leadership in introducing the

02:28legislation to improve the home program. Home, as you know, it's another financing structure

02:37to allow deals to pencil out. And so it is a critical source of gap financing, and so

02:44it is important. So we would certainly love to continue working with you to improve homes

02:50so that it better supports CHODOs, which are community housing development organizations,

02:57so that they can better serve extremely low-income households.

03:01Thank you. And then, Dr. Glazer, thank you so much. I had a question for you on manufactured

03:06homes, but you answered it, and I thank you for your candor there. But let me ask you

03:10this. You also talked a little bit about federal land. And can you expand on your view that

03:15using federal land for housing is not by itself going to meet the affordable housing needs

03:21of this country? I'm curious if you would expand on that thought a little bit more.

03:25So thank you very much for your question, and thank you for your interest in manufactured

03:31homes as well. And I'm also interested in the idea of putting pre-zoning federal land

03:35for manufactured housing. We can think about combining the two as well. I think all federal

03:39land should be taken on a case-by-case basis. We should think about it. My comment, I don't

03:43think it's going to solve America's affordable housing problem, is because it's often not

03:50in the places where we have an affordability crisis. And there are many parts of America

03:53which just don't have substantial amounts of federal land anywhere nearby. I mean, it's

03:57impossible to imagine in greater Boston what federal land we would use to solve that problem.

04:01But there are parts of America where there is federal land. And I believe strongly that

04:07we should use serious analysis and think about whether or not more of that federal land should

04:09be allocated towards housing. I will just say, if we do allocate it towards housing,

04:14let's figure out a way to get as much housing on it as possible. And I think things like

04:18large-scale manufactured housing is one way of doing that.

04:21Thank you. I couldn't agree more. And that's why a piece of legislation that I have introduced

04:24in another committee is a Lands Management Act, Clark County, particularly focuses on

04:30how we get more of that federal land for our use for economic development, but also

04:34for housing. That is unique, by the way, to the Western states. Most of my colleagues

04:39don't have to come to the legislature to pass legislation to get land for housing. We do.

04:44And so I appreciate your comments around there as well.

04:48And then, Ms. Willis, thank you. One final thing, and let me just stress the federal

04:53home loan banks. I think there's a role for them to play. And it's not a new role. It's

04:57one that is in their original charter that they're required to participate in, which

05:01is this idea that they are supposed to and obligated to think about how they invest in

05:08housing and economic development in our communities.

05:12And Ms. Willis, do you think federal home loan banks can do more to support housing?

05:17Sure, yes. I would say that we need every use of every resource available to address

05:26the affordable housing crisis and homelessness crisis. And I really do applaud you for looking

05:32at common sense ways to do that and to increase those resources. And we would certainly love

05:38to continue working with you and your team and your staff to ensure that those new resources

05:43better serve extremely low income households. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

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