Latest Housing Updates from LeadingAge National
(Sept. 8, 2025) Affordable housing members should note the following updates from LeadingAge National:
Reintroduced YIGBY Act Supports Faith-Based Affordable Housing. On Sept. 4th, U.S. Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) reintroduced the Yes in God’s Back Yard (YIGBY) Act (S. 2720). The bill would authorize funding for technical assistance for faith-based organizations, institutions of higher education, and local governments to increase the supply of affordable rental housing, and for other purposes. The funding would be used to assess how excess property owned by faith-based organizations and institutions of higher education could be developed into affordable rental housing and how existing affordable rental housing could be preserved. The bill would authorize $50 million over 6 years for the development and preservation of affordable rental housing on property owned by faith-based organizations and institutions of higher education, for housing for households at or below 60% of area median income, for housing for individuals and families who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, for accessible rental housing for individuals with disabilities, for housing for intergenerational families, and for housing for other special needs populations. The YIGBY Act would also authorize $50 million over 6 years for challenge grants to state and local governments that facilitate the preservation and expansion of affordable housing by faith-based organizations and higher education institutions. Preserving and expanding the supply of affordable housing for older adults are LeadingAge National’s top affordable housing policy goals. Senators Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), Andy Kim (D-NJ), and Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD) have co-sponsored the bill, which LeadingAge National has endorsed. Read Senator Warner’s press release on the bill here.
HUD Roundup: Treasury Secretary Bessent Hints at Housing Emergency; Senate Considers Agency Nominees. On Sept. 2nd, U.S. Department of the Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent floated the idea that President Donald Trump may declare a housing emergency to media. Meanwhile, the Senate continued to consider White House nominees for leadership posts at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Responding to questions about a relatively stagnant housing market and continued housing affordability challenges for owners and renters, Treasury Secretary Bessent told the Washington Examiner, “[W]e’re trying to figure out what can we do? And we don’t want to step into the business of states, counties, and municipal governments. … We may declare a national housing emergency in the fall.” As far as what a housing emergency could actually mean, Secretary Bessent said that “everything is on the table,” mentioning lowering interest rates, changing zoning laws, reducing closing costs, and creating some tariff exemptions. On the Hill, the Senate continues to consider nominees for HUD leadership. On Aug. 1st, the White House nominated Frank Cassidy to be Federal Housing Administration Commissioner and Assistant Secretary for Housing, overseeing HUD’s largest office. Mr. Cassidy has been at HUD since April as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary. On Sept. 4th, the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs held a hearing to consider the nominations of Ben Hobbs to be the next Assistant Secretary for HUD’s Office of Public and Indian Housing, which has oversight over the public housing and voucher programs, and Howard Kurtz as the next Assistant Secretary for HUD’s Office of Community Planning and Development, which has oversight over homeless assistance, Community Development Block Grants, the HOME program, and others. The Committee has not scheduled a vote on the nominees.
Contact: Jeff Diamond, jdiamond@leadingageny.org