Sponsors (4)
Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services.
Last progress June 12, 2025 (8 months ago)
Introduced on June 12, 2025 by Emanuel Cleaver
Provides competitive HUD grants to transform neighborhoods that have both extreme poverty and severely distressed housing into mixed-income, safe, and well-served communities. Grants fund planning, housing construction/rehab, replacement of demolished public or assisted units (generally one-for-one), rental assistance, supportive services, job and education links, and other community improvements while requiring resident protections, affirmative marketing, accessibility, environmental review, reporting, and Secretary oversight. Sets program rules for who can apply (local governments, public housing agencies, certain nonprofit or project owners), how funds may be used, deadlines for HUD rulemaking, monitoring and reporting requirements, and authorizes $1 billion for FY2026 (and such sums as necessary thereafter). The Secretary may phase underwriting, reassign implementation if grantees fail benchmarks, reclaim unobligated funds, and permit a limited waiver to replace as little as 90% of demolished units in narrow cases.
Demolition, disposition, relocation, replacement, and re-occupancy of housing units connected to a grant must be carried out in a way that affirmatively furthers fair housing, as required by section 808(e) of the Civil Rights Act of 1968.
Grantees must adopt affirmative marketing procedures and require project owners and managers to perform affirmative marketing targeted to persons least likely to apply, to ensure all persons regardless of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability, or familial status are aware of housing opportunities in projects funded under this Act.
All new construction and alterations of existing buildings carried out with grant funds must comply with section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, HUD Accessibility Standards for Design, Construction, and Alteration of Publicly Owned Residential Structures (24 C.F.R. part 40 or successor), the Fair Housing Act, and any other requirements the Secretary determines.
Grant funds may not be used to assist any housing property unless the owner agrees to a period of affordability for the property that is not shorter than the period the property is already subject to and remains subject, or 3Hi 0 years, whichever is longer. (Text in source shows “3Hi 0 years.”)
The Secretary shall establish cost limits on eligible activities under this Act that are sufficient to provide for effective transformation programs.
Updated 2 days ago
Last progress June 12, 2025 (8 months ago)
Primary direct impacts:
Residents of public and assisted housing in targeted neighborhoods face relocation during redevelopment but receive statutory protections: counseling, relocation payments, a minimum voucher search period, and a guaranteed right to return to replacement units (if lease-compliant) or to retain a Section 8 voucher. The program aims to deliver improved housing, services, and neighborhood amenities but risks gentrification or longer relocation for some residents depending on project timing.
Public housing agencies and local governments will take lead roles as applicants and implementers; they must prepare detailed transformation plans, meet reporting and compliance obligations, coordinate environmental reviews, and may be subject to replacement of their implementation agent or loss of unobligated funds if benchmarks are missed.
Nonprofit and for-profit owners, developers, and community development corporations can participate as co-applicants or partners and may receive grant-funded construction, rehabilitation, or service contracts.
HUD will have new regulatory and oversight responsibilities (rulemaking within 180 days, monitoring, reporting to Congress, enforcement of replacement and resident-protection rules).
Neighborhoods may receive capital investment, supportive services, job and education connections, and sustainability upgrades; local service providers and workforce training programs may gain contracts and funding opportunities.
Net effect: The legislation channels federal resources and a structured process to redevelop the most distressed, high-poverty neighborhoods while embedding tenant protections and reporting; implementation complexity, pace of redevelopment, and local capacity will determine whether benefits reach existing low-income residents or primarily new households.