NCSHA Washington Report | March 14, 2025

State housing finance agency CEOs, board members, and industry partners this week met with more than 150 members of Congress as part of NCSHA’s annual legislative conference. Advocacy efforts will continue with House and Senate members when they are home over the next few weeks and wherever they are throughout the spring and summer. Whatever the setting, the message starts with the centrality of state HFAs to the nation’s housing system — reflected collectively by $50 billion in annual financing the HFA network delivers — and in each state by its HFA’s strategic investments to meet specific market needs and local priorities.

At the federal level, HFA priorities are focused in four areas.

• Tax Policy. In the tax bill expected to pass this year, Congress should expand tax-exempt Housing Bonds and Housing Credits. Housing Bonds provide lower-cost mortgage loans for homeownership and rental housing. Housing Credits are the primary incentive for affordable apartment construction. Both policies are well established, highly effective, and supported by many members of both parties. Congress should also create a new tax incentive for affordable home construction and repair, modeled on the Housing Credit program.
• Spending Policy. As Congress looks for opportunities to reduce federal spending, it should ensure proven programs that cut housing costs for working families and economically vulnerable individuals remain funded. The HOME housing block grant is an efficient, all-purpose tool run at the state and local levels. Federal rental housing assistance supports the viability of thousands of apartment properties operated by the private sector and community-based groups. Project-Based Rental Assistance administered state by state, usually by the HFA, is another critical resource for housing stability.
• Regulatory Reform. Congress and the federal government have many opportunities to make housing more affordable and free up affordable home building and apartment construction by reducing burdensome federal rules. Underutilized federal land and buildings can support new housing with regulatory relief as well, with HFAs providing additional financing.
• Housing Finance. The Federal Housing Administration, Rural Housing Service, and housing government-sponsored enterprises ensure affordable financing is widely available for home buyers and builders. State HFAs play essential roles enabling them to reach underserved markets, such as rural communities throughout the country. These kinds of partnerships can and should be expanded.

States and their HFAs everywhere are doing more than ever to meet housing supply and affordability challenges. Their reach is farther and their impact deeper when they leverage proven federal programs and can call on reliable federal partners with the personnel, tools, and capacity to do their share of the job.

Stockton Williams | Executive Director

In This Issue

• Wells Fargo’s Ginsburg to Retire
• House Passes Full-Year Continuing Resolution; Senate Passage Likely
• Pulte Confirmed to Lead FHFA
• Trump Nominates Hughes for HUD Deputy Secretary, Woll for General Counsel
• Senate Banking Committee Hearing Discusses Affordable Housing Ideas
• Cortez Masto, Beatty Reintroduce Legislation to Reauthorize, Modernize HOME
• NLIHC Releases 2025 Affordable Housing Shortage Report
• Looking Ahead

Wells Fargo’s Ginsburg to Retire
After 40-plus years in the municipal finance sector, Robin Ginsburg will retire April 1 from Wells Fargo. Ginsburg joined the bank in 2012 to lead the National Housing Group in the Government and Institutional Banking business and is widely known in the housing finance agency sector. She focused on single-family and multifamily financings for housing finance agencies as a bond issuer, public finance banker, and — for the past 12 years at Wells Fargo — commercial banker. Wells Fargo is a longtime member of NCSHA’s Leadership Circle.

House Passes Full-Year Continuing Resolution; Senate Passage Likely
On Tuesday, the House passed a full-year continuing resolution (CR) providing Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 funding for federal agencies at largely the same levels as in FY 2024. Funding for nearly all U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development programs would remain the same as FY 2024. The bill provides small increases for Section 202 elderly housing and Section 811 housing for persons with disabilities. Rental assistance programs also would see increases due to increased rental costs; however, despite the increase provided for tenant-based rental assistance, Democratic appropriators maintain the CR funding is insufficient to renew all existing Housing Choice Vouchers, resulting in the loss of approximately 32,000 vouchers.

On Thursday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (R-NY) said he plans to support the House-passed CR and expects enough Democrats to vote for it that it should pass, thereby averting a government shutdown. Some Democrats, however, continue to express concern the bill would give the Trump Administration and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency too much authority to continue making significant cuts to programs and staffing at federal agencies.

Pulte Confirmed to Lead FHFA
On Tuesday, President Trump announced his nomination of Andrew Hughes to be deputy secretary of HUD and David Woll to be HUD general counsel. Hughes currently serves as chief of staff at HUD; he was chief of staff for former HUD Secretary Ben Carson from 2018 until the end of Trump’s first term. HUD Secretary Scott Turner and Senate Banking Committee Chair Tim Scott (R-SC) issued statements in support of Hughes’ nomination. Woll currently serves as the principal deputy assistant secretary for Community Planning and Development (CPD) at HUD, where he also served in the first Trump Administration. In 2019, Woll was nominated by Trump to serve as assistant secretary for CPD, but that nomination was not confirmed. Hughes’ and Woll’s nominations will be sent to the Senate Banking Committee for initial consideration.

Trump Nominates Hughes for HUD Deputy Secretary, Woll for General Counsel
The Senate Banking Committee on Wednesday held a hearing to consider ways to increase housing supply and affordability. Committee Chair Tim Scott (R-SC) began the hearing by arguing government interference at all levels is the biggest contributor to increased housing costs and more government resources are not the solution. Scott touted legislation he introduced in the last Congress — the ROAD to Housing Act — and said he hopes the 119th Congress will send a similar bill to President Trump by the end of the year. Committee Ranking Member Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) expressed a desire to work with Scott on the issue and argued the federal government could do more to help state and local governments develop more affordable homes. She said she supports 10 bipartisan housing bills that have been introduced in this Congress, or were introduced in the last Congress, and hopes the committee will consider them.

Committee members and witnesses discussed zoning reform, regulatory streamlining, manufactured housing, federal housing programs, and related topics. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) promoted her legislation to reauthorize the HOME Investment Partnerships Program (see below). The witnesses were Eric Johnson, mayor of Dallas, Texas; Lee Jelenic of United Wholesale Mortgage; Dr. Edward Glaeser of Harvard University; and Renee Willis of the National Low Income Housing Coalition.

Senate Banking Committee Hearing Discusses Affordable Housing Ideas
The Senate Banking Committee on Wednesday held a hearing to consider ways to increase housing supply and affordability. Committee Chair Tim Scott (R-SC) began the hearing by arguing government interference at all levels is the biggest contributor to increased housing costs and more government resources are not the solution. Scott touted legislation he introduced in the last Congress — the ROAD to Housing Act — and said he hopes the 119th Congress will send a similar bill to President Trump by the end of the year. Committee Ranking Member Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) expressed a desire to work with Scott on the issue and argued the federal government could do more to help state and local governments develop more affordable homes. She said she supports 10 bipartisan housing bills that have been introduced in this Congress, or were introduced in the last Congress, and hopes the committee will consider them.

Committee members and witnesses discussed zoning reform, regulatory streamlining, manufactured housing, federal housing programs, and related topics. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) promoted her legislation to reauthorize the HOME Investment Partnerships Program (see below). The witnesses were Eric Johnson, mayor of Dallas, Texas; Lee Jelenic of United Wholesale Mortgage; Dr. Edward Glaeser of Harvard University; and Renee Willis of the National Low Income Housing Coalition.

Cortez Masto, Beatty Reintroduce Legislation to Reauthorize, Modernize HOME
Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) and Representative Joyce Beatty (D-OH) have reintroduced legislation to reauthorize and significantly increase the total funding authority for the HOME Investment Partnerships Program, as well as to make numerous programmatic changes to improve and streamline HOME’s administration. Learn more about the HOME Investment Partnerships Program Reauthorization and Improvement Act.

NLIHC Releases 2025 Affordable Housing Shortage Report
This week, the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) published the 2025 edition of The Gap, its annual report highlighting the severe shortage of affordable housing for extremely low-income households, defined as households earning below 30 percent of the area median income or the poverty line, whichever is greater. According to this year’s report, the United States faces a shortage of 7.1 million affordable homes for extremely low-income renters. Nationwide, only 35 affordable and available rental homes exist for every 100 extremely low-income renter households, leaving millions struggling to find stable housing. The shortage is widespread: In 11 of the nation’s 50 largest metro areas, the shortage exceeds 100,000 affordable units.

Looking Ahead

Legislative and Regulatory Activities

• March 17 | Comments Due | Equity Saver Sale Home Disposition Option

NCSHA, State HFA, and Industry Events

• March 17 – 18 | Council of State Community Development Agencies: 2025 Program Managers Training Conference | Washington, DC
  Jennifer Schwartz will speak at this event.
• March 18 – 21 | National Affordable Housing Management Association: Top Issues in Affordable Housing Conference | Washington, DC
  Jennifer Schwartz will speak at this event.
• March 19 | National Housing Supply Summit | Washington, DC
  Stockton Williams will participate in this event.
• March 26, 1:00 – 3:00 pm ET | NCSHA Webinar: Empowering Women in Housing Finance Careers | Virtual