NCSHA Washington Report | February 7, 2025
A few days before the Senate confirmed Scott Turner as Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development this week, Greg Abbott, governor of Turner’s home state of Texas, said in his 2025 state of the state address, “We must also make housing more affordable … we need to make it easier to build, slash regulations, and speed up permitting.”
Secretary Turner, who has similar priorities, can look to states across the country in addition to his own for partners in confronting the challenges he considers “vital to the nation as well as personal to me.”
Thirty of the 39 governors who have given their annual addresses this year have highlighted housing affordability and their intentions to address it. A few examples:
“[G]iving working people and small business owners a chance at the American Dream is about who we are as a state — not what political party we support.”
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp
“Affordable housing measures we passed over the last two years are now fueling a surge in workforce and low-income housing developments across our islands.”
Hawaii Governor Josh Green
“I look forward to working with legislators to remove even more regulatory barriers and further advance needed permitting reforms in order to keep up with housing demand. In just two years, we have made significant progress on housing, but there is still more work to do to meet our pressing needs.”
Idaho Governor Brad Little
“[I]n June, we announced plans to build 953 new rental units. We believe this is the largest single housing announcement in our commonwealth’s history.”
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear
“Last year, we worked together to craft and pass the most aggressive housing package of any Maryland governor in recent history. Now, we are coming back for more.”
Maryland Governor Wes Moore
“This year, with the Affordable Homes Act in place, we’re going to get shovels in the ground and people in homes … So far, 116 towns have said ‘Yes’ to more homes near transit.”
Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey
“The Nevada Attainable Housing Act is our action plan to get this done. This comprehensive legislation tackles housing needs on multiple fronts, from reducing fees and fostering innovation to incentivizing development and creating public-private partnerships.”
Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo
“We need to get serious about housing production, streamline state agency approvals, and partner with our local communities. The journey of a thousand steps begins with one, and there is no simple solution to this crisis, but we’re going to pursue an all-of-the-above strategy to address it.”
New Hampshire Governor Kelly Ayotte
“The times call for action. That is why I am signing an Executive Order, immediately following this speech, directing state agencies to review all regulations that impact housing, permitting, and construction and identify any provision that can be streamlined, deferred, or eliminated.”
Washington Governor Bob Ferguson
Governors are relying on their state housing finance agencies as never before to deliver new state funding commitments alongside policy reform. HFAs also administer the main HUD programs for increasing housing supply. The opportunity for productive federal-state collaboration on housing affordability is significant.
Stockton Williams | Executive Director
In This Issue
- Wilkinson Appointed to FHLB Dallas’ Affordable Housing Advisory Council
- NCSHA Asks FHFA to Promote HFA Expertise on FHLB Boards
- Turner Sworn In as HUD Secretary
- Coalition Asks Congress to Maintain Municipal Bond Tax Exemption
- Budget Resolution Plan Remains in Flux
- Appropriators Seek FY25 Funding Agreement as Deadline Approaches
- Trump Administration Announces Plans for Tariffs on Construction Materials, Other Goods
- NCSHA in the News
- Looking Ahead
Wilkinson Appointed to FHLB Dallas’ Affordable Housing Advisory Council
The Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas announced the appointment of Bobby Wilkinson, executive director of the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs, to its Affordable Housing Advisory Council. The advisory council is composed of 14 representatives from state, community, and nonprofit organizations in FHLB Dallas’ five-state district. The representatives are appointed by the FHLB Dallas Board of Directors and advise the board on affordable housing and economic development issues.
NCSHA Asks FHFA to Promote HFA Expertise on FHLB Boards
On Monday, NCSHA submitted comments on a Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) proposed rule to revise regulations addressing boards of directors and overall corporate governance of the Federal Home Loan Banks (FHLBs). NCSHA expressed its overall support for the proposed rule, particularly its proposal to require the FHLBs to consider including board members with experience and expertise in several emerging areas impacting the housing market. We asked FHFA to mandate the FHLBs also look to appoint directors with experience working with HFAs and familiarity with the federal and state housing programs they administer. The proposed rule was issued as part of a comprehensive review of the FHLB system FHFA has been conducting over the past two years.
Turner Sworn In as HUD Secretary
Scott Turner was sworn in as Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development on Wednesday shortly after the U.S. Senate confirmed his nomination by a vote of 55 – 44. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Secretary Turner said he intends to pursue privatization of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, lower housing costs by reforming federal regulations, increase access to federal land for affordable housing, and continue his work on Opportunity Zones.
Secretary Turner previously led the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council, driving the Opportunity Zones initiative during President Trump’s first term. He also served in the Texas state legislature and as founder and CEO of the Community Engagement & Opportunity Council, a housing development executive at JPI, and an associate pastor at Prestonwood Baptist Church. He played nine seasons in the National Football League.
NCSHA congratulates Secretary Turner on his confirmation.
Coalition Asks Congress to Maintain Municipal Bond Tax Exemption
The members of the Public Finance Network (PFN), a coalition of issuer groups and interested stakeholders which includes NCSHA, the Government Finance Officers Association, the National Association of State Treasurers, and the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, wrote to Congress on January 31 to reiterate the importance of tax-exempt municipal bonds and ask it to protect and bolster the municipal bond market. PFN’s letter also emphasized that tax-exempt municipal bonds are an efficient financing tool and eliminating the tax-exemption would raise borrowing costs for important state and local infrastructure and community improvement projects.
Budget Resolution Plan Remains in Flux
On Thursday, House leadership and the chairs of both the House Ways and Means and Budget committees again huddled with President Trump to discuss their efforts to draft a budget resolution that can garner “yea” votes from a majority of House members. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) had hoped to release the House budget resolution this week but today announced they will continue to work on the text over the weekend with the goal of a House Budget Committee mark-up on Tuesday. The House continues to favor a budget that sets the stage for “one big, beautiful” reconciliation bill that covers the Trump Administration’s border security, energy, defense, and tax agenda. Passing a budget resolution in that chamber will require House Republicans to be in lockstep — something that is proving to be very challenging given the narrow margin of GOP control and disagreements about strategy and cost — as Democrats will oppose the resolution. The party breakdown in the House currently stands at 218 Republicans to 215 Democrats with two vacancies. Once Representative Elise Stefanik (R-NY), the president’s pick to become UN ambassador, officially steps down from her seat in Congress, that majority shrinks to 217 to 215.
Meanwhile, Senate Budget Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-SC) today released the text of the Senate’s FY25 Budget Resolution, which calls for reconciliation legislation focused on border security, defense, and energy policy but does not include tax, which Graham envisions moving in a separate bill later this year. The Senate Budget Committee is scheduled to mark up its budget resolution next Wednesday and Thursday. House Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO) has raised concerns that Republicans may struggle to get the votes to pass tax legislation on its own given expected disagreements in their caucus about cost and policy changes.
Appropriators Seek FY25 Funding Agreement as Deadline Approaches
Facing the March 14 expiration of the current continuing resolution (CR), negotiations in Congress about how to fund the federal government for the remainder of fiscal year 2025 (FY25) appear to have stalled. This is at least in part due to diverging views of efforts by the Trump White House, since halted by court order, to freeze significant amounts of federal funding pending review by the new administration. While Republicans largely have been publicly supportive of those moves as a prerogative of the incoming administration and an effective check on federal spending, Democrats have argued those efforts to impound already-appropriated funding make negotiating in good faith around future appropriations more difficult. With a razor-thin majority in the House and 60-vote procedural threshold in the Senate, however, it would be nearly impossible for Republicans to pass FY25 funding legislation without at least some Democratic support, narrowing the path for Congress to avert a government shutdown beginning March 15 unless negotiators can find common ground.
Trump Administration Announces Plans for Tariffs on Construction Materials, Other Goods
This week, the Trump Administration announced a 25 percent across-the-board tariff on goods imported into the United States from Canada and Mexico and a 10 percent tariff on goods imported from China. While the tariffs originally were scheduled to begin February 4, the administration subsequently postponed the start of the Canadian and Mexican tariffs until March 4. The construction industry is assessing the potential impact of these tariffs on housing development costs, as the U.S. relies heavily on lumber, iron, and steel imported from Canada; cement, gypsum, and household appliances imported from Mexico; and plastics, household electronics, and other building materials imported from China. The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) sent a letter to President Trump explaining that, while the president had acknowledged the need to lower the cost of housing in an executive order his first day in office, tariffs would have the opposite effect by increasing the cost of construction, discouraging new development, and interrupting the supply chain of building materials, causing consumers to pay for the tariffs in the form of higher home prices. NAHB estimates more than 70 percent of lumber and gypsum imports are sourced from Canada and Mexico, respectively.
HNCSHA in the News
The Bond Buyer, 2.3.25, Muni advocates spell out costs of ending tax-exemption
Novogradac Journal of Tax Credits, 2.3.25, Low-Income Housing Tax Credits News Briefs – February 2025
Legislative and Regulatory Activities
- February 14 | Comments Due to NCSHA | HUD Request for Information on Resilience Measures and Insurance Coverage
- February 21 | Comments Due to NCSHA | Establishment of the Optional Reimbursement Claim Alternative
- February 21 | Comments Due to NCSHA | Partial Claim Document Recording and Payoff Statements
- February 28 | Comments Due | HUD Request for Information on Resilience Measures and Insurance Coverage
- March 3 | Comments Due | Establishment of the Optional Reimbursement Claim Alternative
- March 10 | Comments Due | Partial Claim Document Recording and Payoff Statements
- March 10 | Comments Due to NCSHA | Equity Saver Sale Home Disposition Option
- March 17 | Comments Due | Equity Saver Sale Home Disposition Option
NCSHA, State HFA, and Industry Events
- February 10 | Early-Bird Registration Ends: NCSHA’s 2025 Legislative Conference | Washington, DC
- February 11 | National Housing Conference: “Federal Home Loan Banks: Shaping the Future of Affordable Housing and Community Investment” | Washington, DC, and Virtual
Stockton Williams will speak at this event. - February 11 | 2025 National Conference of Regions | Washington, DC
Robert Henson will speak at this event. - February 24 | ULI Terwilliger Center for Housing: 2025 Building the Future Policy Forum | Atlanta, GA
Stockton Williams will participate in this event. - March 3 | American Wood Council Annual Meeting | Washington, DC
Jennifer Schwartz will speak at this event. - March 10 – 12 | NCSHA’s 2025 Legislative Conference | Washington, DC
- 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.
