ROAD to Housing Act Clears Senate
The U.S. Senate last night passed a comprehensive bipartisan affordable housing package containing 40 different bills introduced by Senators from both parties. The legislation — titled “Renewing Opportunity in the American Dream to Housing Act of 2025,” or “ROAD to Housing Act” — is the first bipartisan housing bill to be approved by the Senate in more than a decade.
The ROAD to Housing Act was put together by Banking Committee Chair Tim Scott (R-SC) and Ranking Member Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). It includes several of NCSHA’s legislative priorities, including legislation introduced by Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) to reauthorize and reform the HOME Investment Partnerships Program (the HOME Investment Partnerships Program Reauthorization and Improvement Act) and a bill to increase the cap on banks’ “public welfare investments,” including Housing Credits and Housing Bonds. The Banking Committee unanimously passed the bill on July 29. For more information on the bill’s provisions, see NCSHA’s blog post and detailed summary.
The ROAD to Housing Act passed the Senate as part of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2026 (S. 2296; NDAA). The NDAA is legislation Congress passes almost annually authorizing spending levels for defense and national security. Given its critical nature, the NDAA is considered “must pass” and often serves as a vehicle to advance unrelated bills with strong bipartisan support, such as the ROAD to Housing Act. Scott introduced an amendment to insert the ROAD to Housing Act in the NDAA and negotiated with Senate leaders to have it included in a larger package of amendments, known as a “manager’s amendment,” added to the bill before its passage. The NDAA was approved by a bipartisan vote of 77–20.
NCSHA commends Senators Scott and Warren for their tireless efforts in support of this critical legislation. We further thank Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) for supporting its inclusion in the NDAA.
The Senate and the House of Representatives will now attempt to reconcile the differences between their defense authorization bills, the House having passed its own NDAA last month. It is expected that House Financial Services Committee Chair French Hill (R-AR) and Ranking Member Maxine Waters (D-CA) will want to have input on any housing provisions included. To help develop a House counterpart to the Road to Housing Act that could be used in negotiations with the Senate, the Financial Services Committee is expected to consider its own housing legislation during a markup scheduled for October 28–29. This markup may include consideration of HOME reauthorization legislation being drafted by House Housing Subcommittee Chair Mike Flood (R-NE) and Ranking Member Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO). However, due to the government shutdown, this markup may be delayed.
