To direct the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to annually submit to the Congress a report that analyzes State and local strategies, activities, and plans that promote affordable housing, and for other purposes.

This proposal would require the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to send Congress a yearly report that reviews what states and cities are doing to make housing more affordable. The report must analyze information collected in HUD’s Regulatory Barriers Clearinghouse and offer policy ideas Congress could use to support the most successful local strategies, like zoning reforms and other efforts that help lower housing costs. The bill is based on findings that the country faces a serious housing shortage, renters are paying a large share of their income on housing, and every state is affected. It aims to help the federal government learn from what’s already working on the ground and scale it up.

Key points:

• Who is affected: HUD (must produce the report), Congress (receives analysis and recommendations), and indirectly state and local governments, renters, and homebuyers.
• What changes: HUD must deliver an annual analysis of state and local affordable housing strategies, plus recommendations for federal action, drawn from the Regulatory Barriers Clearinghouse.
• When: Every year after enactment.