Sponsors (14)
The bill expands use of CDBG funds to build affordable housing — increasing local control and housing supply and involving community nonprofits — but raises fiscal pressures, risks diverting funds from other services, and could fail to secure long-term affordability without strong local safeguards.
Low- and moderate-income households gain access to newly constructed affordable homes because CDBG can be used to fund residential construction projects.
Local governments and tribal entities can direct flexible federal funds to increase housing supply in high-need areas, enabling targeted local planning and development.
Neighborhood nonprofits can participate in or lead construction projects, building local capacity and supporting community-based development.
If local implementation lacks strong affordability controls, new CDBG-funded units might not remain affordable long-term or could disproportionately benefit developers rather than low-income residents.
Expanding CDBG to support new construction could divert limited funds away from existing community services and infrastructure projects that serve low-income residents.
Using CDBG for new construction may raise costs for taxpayers or increase government budgetary pressure compared with funding rehabilitation or other services.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Adds new construction of residential housing for low- and moderate-income persons as an eligible use of CDBG formula funds.
Official title: To amend the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 to expand new home construction, and for other purposes.
Introduced September 3, 2025 by Sam T. Liccardo · Last progress September 3, 2025
Expands the list of eligible uses for Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds to explicitly allow building new residential housing for low- and moderate-income people. Local governments, states, insular areas, tribes, metropolitan cities, and urban counties may use CDBG formula funds to construct new housing directly or in partnership with nonprofits or other public/private entities. The change simply adds new construction of low- and moderate-income housing to the statutory enumerated activities for CDBG, with no new appropriation included or changes to allocation formulas in the text provided.