Warnock introduces affordable housing bill

ATLANTA – U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., introduced legislation Thursday that would provide federal funding to build 3 million new homes across the country and reduce rents by an average of 10%.

The bill, to be financed through changes to the federal estate tax, is aimed at filling a housing supply shortage that dates back to the Great Recession more than a decade ago.

“This bill aims to be transformational,” Warnock said Thursday. “The issue is too big to go small.”

In Georgia, 23% of renter households are made up of low-income individuals and families. There is an estimated shortage of 200,000 rental homes affordable for low-income renters.

The American Housing and Economic Mobility Act would create incentives for local governments to eliminate unnecessary land-use restrictions that drive up costs.

“These housing covenants, many of them old, have stayed in place,” Warnock said. “What we’re aiming to do is incentivize local communities to remove these unnecessary barriers.”

Earlier this week, Warnock joined forces with Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, to introduce related legislation to improve military housing.

“The housing crisis is a multi-faceted issue that must be attacked from different directions,” Warnock said.

Warnock grew up in public housing in Savannah and rose to become senior pastor at Atlanta’s historic Ebenezer Baptist Church before being elected to the Senate.

“This is not just a policy issue for me,” Warnock said. “This is personal.”

A companion to the housing bill Warnock introduced Thursday is being sponsored in the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo.