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NCSHA Washington Report | August 8, 2025

Published on August 8, 2025

NCSHA Washington Report - 2025

State-level leadership on solving housing affordability challenges shows no signs of slowing, even as economic uncertainty and fiscal pressures threaten to undercut some of the tremendous progress.

States have been so active that several think tanks and research organizations have established initiatives to track and evaluate their activity. The latest wave of analysis finds that more than 20 states have adopted “policies aimed at increasing the supply of housing” recently, more than 400 “pro-housing” bills were introduced in state legislatures in the first half of this year, and roughly 70 of them have been signed into law, with at least 30 more awaiting a governor’s signature.

In a number of states, momentum built over several legislative sessions is resulting in more comprehensive and ambitious results than many thought possible.

Take Texas, where the state legislature passed seven bills that removed “multiple barriers” to housing development “with each earning majority backing from both Republicans and Democrats in the Senate, and five earning majorities from both parties in the House of Representatives,” according to the Pew Charitable Trust.

While most analyst commentary covers states’ efforts to create a more favorable regulatory environment for building through reforms of zoning, land use, and permitting, states also have made major new financial investments in increasing housing supply — without which those necessary table-setting measures will fall far short of their backers’ goals.

Like in Oregon, where last week Governor Tina Kotek signed into law five bipartisan bills aimed at “providing financial assistance for housing developments and creating more factory-built housing” as well as “encouraging middle housing construction, such as duplexes and triplexes.”

The highlight reel from the last few years also includes: funding commitments of unprecedented size in Florida, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, and New York, among many others; innovative new programs in states such as Colorado, Georgia, New Mexico, and Virginia; financial incentives for starter home building in Ohio, Oklahoma, and Utah; and tax credits for affordable apartment construction in Alabama, Arizona, and Rhode Island. Housing finance agencies in these states and others are playing the lead role in putting the funding commitments to work.

Even with the expansion of the federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credit in the “Big Beautiful Bill,” sustained state financial support for housing will need to continue, both because the housing supply shortage is so large and construction and operating costs continue to rise.

It’s reasonable to worry that an apparently slowing economy, fallout from tariffs, and, especially, the “Big Beautiful Bill’s” cuts to Medicaid and food stamps could force states to scale back their housing supply investments. But not necessarily right away. Analysts at the National Conference of State Legislatures project states overall will cut spending less than one percent on average in their upcoming fiscal year and note state budgets are “about the strongest we’ve ever seen.”

The next several years will test whether the most productive period for state leadership on housing in history can generate its intended results and sustain the bipartisan backing necessary to continue through uncertain times.

Stockton-Williams-Washington-ReportStockton Williams | Executive Director

In This Issue

FHFA Increases GSE Housing Credit Investment Caps
This week, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced an increase in the annual amount Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac can invest in Housing Credit developments to $2 billion each. Half of the expanded investment will be reserved for markets that are traditionally difficult to serve, with at least 20 percent of that portion earmarked for rural communities under the Duty to Serve initiative. This increase marks a doubling of the $1 billion per Government Sponsored Enterprise (GSE) limit set in 2024 — when FHFA last adjusted the cap — and a continued increase in the cap, set at $850 million in 2021 and $500 million in 2017 when the GSEs re-entered the Housing Credit equity market. As noted in FHFA’s press release, this increase is consistent with the enhanced Housing Credit authority made possible in the recently enacted One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The release also calls the Credit “one of America’s most important sources of affordable housing supply.”

NCSHA issued a statement commending FHFA for raising the investment caps and noting “the announcement complements Congress’ recent step to boost the Housing Credit as the housing supply centerpiece of the Big Beautiful Bill recently signed into law by President Trump.”

Woll Sworn in as HUD General Counsel
David Woll was sworn in as general counsel of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) shortly after the Senate confirmed his nomination last week in a party-line vote of 51–43. In this capacity, Woll is HUD’s chief legal officer, advising on housing policy, regulatory matters, and program operations. During his confirmation, Democratic lawmakers pressed him on fair housing enforcement and deregulation. Woll pledged to uphold the law, avoid advising HUD to violate court orders, and support adequate staffing for legal and civil rights enforcement. Republican leaders praised his commitment to regulatory review and legal compliance, emphasizing the importance of rigorous legal oversight as HUD faces ongoing programmatic challenges.

Woll had been serving since January as HUD Acting Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development and previously served as HUD Deputy General Counsel and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development during the first Trump Administration.

White House Nominates Cassidy for FHA Commissioner, Gormley for Ginnie Mae President
The Trump Administration earlier this month nominated Frank Cassidy for Assistant Secretary of Housing at HUD and Federal Housing Administration (FHA) Commissioner and Joseph Gormley for President of Ginnie Mae. Cassidy is currently serving as HUD’s Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Housing after joining the department in April. Before joining HUD, Cassidy was a senior managing director at Walker & Dunlop, a commercial real estate finance and advisory services firm. Gormley has been serving as executive vice president and chief operating officer of Ginnie Mae since April. Gormley previously held leadership positions within HUD, including Deputy Assistant Secretary for Single-Family Housing at FHA and chief of staff to the Deputy Secretary. Read NCSHA’s statement of support for the nominations.

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