Bipartisan legislation would initiate reforms to modernize and improve the USDA’s Rural Housing Service
The USDA Rural Housing Service provides grants, loans, and loan guarantees to build, repair, or purchase housing and community facilities located in rural areas
According to a 2022 report, Georgia had nearly 15,000 units of multi-family housing provided under the Housing Act of 1949, providing homes to more than 15,000 Georgians, including nearly 7,000 children
Nearly 99% of these households are classified as low- or very low-income
Senator Reverend Warnock: “I am proud to join hands across the aisle, to ensure aid that will flow to some of our most underserved rural communities. Georgians and every citizen deserve to live in dignity with a roof over their heads”
Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA) announced his support for bipartisan legislation that would improve federal rural housing programs and strengthen the supply of affordable housing for low-income Georgians in rural communities. The Rural Housing Service Reform Act would apply changes to the USDA’s Rural Housing Service, a program that provides grants, loans, and loan guarantees to build, repair, or purchase housing and community facilities located in rural areas.
This includes single- and multi-family housing, hospitals, schools, libraries, child care centers, nursing homes, housing for farm laborers, and police and fire stations as well as vehicles and equipment for first responders. According to a 2022 report, Georgia had nearly 15,000 units of multi-family housing provided under the Housing Act of 1949, providing homes to more than 15,000 Georgians, including nearly 7,000 children. Nearly 99% of these households are classified as low- or very low-income. This legislation represents what would be the most significant Rural Housing Service reform in years.
“Our rural communities too often lack adequate access to housing and economic opportunity, so I’m fiercely committed to working in Washington to reverse that trend in Georgia. I am proud to join hands across the aisle to ensure aid that will flow to some of our most underserved rural communities. Georgians deserve to live in dignity with a roof over their heads,” said Senator Warnock.
In February of this year, Senators Warnock and Ossoff secured and delivered over $1.7 million dollars in federal funding, to upgrade housing conditions in Atlanta, GA. Through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Healthy Homes Production Grant program, these funds will be used to complete home repairs and remediation projects. This program identifies and repairs health and safety hazards to further protect children and families from dangerous living conditions. In December of 2023, Senators Warnock and Ossoff also delivered funds from the same program to families in rural Georgian communities, aiding in the rehabilitation of their homes and improving their lives one day at a time.
This legislation would improve and build upon several U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) rural housing programs. Specifically, the bill would:
- Fix a longstanding problem for properties (known as Sec. 515 properties) that were financed by the USDA decades ago and now have maturing mortgages, by making it easier for non-profits to acquire those properties and by decoupling rental assistance so that assistance doesn’t disappear when those mortgages mature. This is especially important in Minnesota, which has more of these types of properties than almost anywhere else in the country.
- Make permanent a USDA pilot program to make mortgage loans available in Native communities by partnering with local CDFIs.
- Bring the USDA’s outdated way of measuring incomes in line with HUD’s practices.
- Modernize the USDA’s foreclosure process to cut red tape, better protect homeowners, and ensure USDA-owned properties stay affordable.
- Update the rules for a home repair loan program to make it less burdensome to get smaller loans.
- And make much-needed investments in IT so that USDA can process loans more quickly and with less staff time wasted on paperwork or manual data entry.
The bill was initially introduced by U.S. Senators Tina Smith (D-MN) and Mike Rounds (R-ND). In addition to Senator Warnock, the bill is cosponsored by Senators Thom Tillis (R-NC), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Steve Daines (R-MT), Katie Britt (R-AL), Jon Tester (D-MT), John Fetterman (D-PA), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), and Mike Warner (D-VA).
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