Congressman Mike Lawler (NY-17) voted in favor of the Housing for the 21st Century Act, a bipartisan housing affordability package that includes six bills he authored. The legislation passed the House with strong support, with a vote of 390-9.
Lawler stated, “Families in my district and across the country have watched the cost of a home rise faster than their paychecks, their savings, and their sense of possibility. Young families are delaying milestones, seniors are struggling to stay rooted in their communities, and working families are getting squeezed by a market that simply does not build enough homes. That’s not acceptable. This bill modernizes outdated rules, cuts through the regulatory thicket that slows construction, and empowers communities to build the housing they actually need.”
Chairman French Hill commented on the passage: “Owning a home has been the cornerstone achievement many Americans have equated with attaining the American Dream. Our Committee has been laser-focused on creating solutions and today, we delivered for the American people. The passage of the Housing for the 21st Century Act includes real, bipartisan solutions to expanding supply, lowering costs, and providing families with more options. I commend Ranking Member Waters, Subcommittee Chair Flood, and Subcommittee Ranking Member Cleaver on collaborating on this legislation and I look forward to ultimately bringing a bicameral product to the President’s desk.”
The package features several provisions from Lawler’s own bills:
– The Community Investment and Prosperity Act aims to broaden banks’ ability to invest in community development.
– The HUD Accountability Act of 2025 requires annual testimony from HUD leadership before Congress to improve transparency during ongoing housing challenges.
– The Housing for America’s Middle Class Act directs a study by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) into workforce housing income parameters.
– The Improving Public Housing Agency Accountability Act mandates yearly reports on troubled public housing agencies like NYCHA.
– The Improving Housing Access Act orders an analysis of barriers facing elderly or disabled individuals seeking housing.
– The Superfund Area Facts and Exposure Act calls for research into how many residential units are near Superfund sites.
Other key measures include improving participation in HUD’s Housing Choice Voucher program—a change Lawler worked on with Rep Emmanuel Cleaver—modernizing zoning practices, streamlining environmental reviews for new construction projects while maintaining protections, updating federal financing tools such as FHA loan limits and small-dollar mortgages, reforming major HUD programs for greater flexibility at local levels, expanding access to manufactured housing by updating standards, enhancing rural housing programs with faster application processes and planning grants, protecting vulnerable groups like veterans and seniors through better benefit calculations and tenant protections, and increasing oversight of public housing authorities.
The bill is endorsed by organizations including AARP; American Bankers Association; Building Owners and Managers Association International; Center for Responsible Lending; Council of Large Public Housing Authorities; National Apartment Association; Pew Charitable Trusts; Real Estate Roundtable; Western Alliance Bank; among others.
Lawler represents New York’s 17th Congressional District north of New York City—which covers all or parts of Rockland, Putnam, Dutchess, and Westchester Counties—and was rated as one of Congress’s most effective freshman lawmakers in recent sessions.
