Proposed legislation related to our safety net: July 17, 2025 – August 8, 2025

ADA, affordable housing, childcare, FMLA, foster care, SNAP, and unemployment, in alphabetical order, not in order of importance. Whichever impacts you is the most important.

ADA

H.R.4644 – ABLE Employment Flexibility Act. To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow employers to contribute to ABLE accounts in lieu of retirement plan contributions.
Introduced July 23, 2025 by Sharice Davids (D-KS). Cosponsored by Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA). Referred to Ways and Means the same day. Still in committee.
Comment: ABLE accounts are savings-investments programs for people with disabilities whose disability began before age 46 (was age 26). Money saved in ABLE accounts does not affect most federally funded benefits based on need. The money in the account may be used to pay for qualified disability expenses.

H.Con.Res.45 - Recognizing the need to improve physical access to many federally funded facilities for all people of the United States, particularly people with disabilities.
Introduced July 23, 2025 by Jahana Hayes (D-CT). Cosponsored by sixteen Democrats and no Republicans. Referred to the Committee on Education and Workforce and Judiciary and Transportation and Infrastructure and Energy and Commerce and Oversight and Government Reform the same day. Still in committee.
Serious question: Why is this a “Democratic” issue?

H.Res.602 - Recognizing the importance of independent living and economic self-sufficiency for individuals with disabilities made possible by the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and calling for further action to strengthen and expand opportunities for individuals with disabilities to participate in work and community life.
Introduced July 23, 2025 by Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA). Cosponsored by Debbie Dingell (D-MI) and Kristen McDonald Rivet (D-MI). Referred to the Committee on Education and Workforce and Transportation and Infrastructure and Judiciary and Energy and Commerce and Financial Services the same day. Still in committee.
Comment: Where is John Joyce?

AFFORDABLE HOUSING

S.2322 – Appraisal Modernization Act. To amend the Federal Housing Enterprises Safety and Soundness Act of 1992 to require that financial institutions, appraisal management companies, appraisers, and other valuation professionals are serving the housing market in a manner that is efficient and consistent for all mortgage loan applicants, borrowers, and communities.
Introduced July 17, 2025 by Raphael Warnock (D-GA). Cosponsored by seven Democrats and no Republicans. Referred to Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs the same day. Still in committee.

S.2361 - Accelerating Home Building Act of 2025. To provide grants to units of general local government related to pre-reviewed designs for mixed-income housing.
Introduced July 21, 2025 by Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE). Cosponsored by Bernie Moreno (R-OH). Referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs the same day. Still in committee.

S.2363 - Build More Housing Near Transit Act of 2025. To amend title 49, United States Code, to include affordable housing incentives in certain capital investment grants.
Introduced July 21, 2025 by Brian Schatz (D-HI). Cosponsored by Jim Banks (R-IN). Referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs the same day. Still in committee.

H.R.4572 – Save Affordable Housing Act of 2025. To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the qualified contract exception to the extended low-income housing commitment rules for purposes of the low-income housing credit.
Introduced July 21, 2025 by Joe Neguse (D-CO). No cosponsors. Referred to Ways and Means the same day. Still in committee.

S.2391 - BUILD Housing Act (Better Use of Intergovernmental and Local Development for Housing Act). To designate an environmental review procedure for certain assistance administered by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
Introduced July 23, 2025 by Andy Kim (D-NJ). Cosponsored by two Democrats and one Republican [Mike Rounds (R-SD)]. Referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs the same day. Still in committee.

S.2414 - Housing Supply Expansion Act of 2025. To update the definition of manufactured home.
Introduced July 23, 2025 by Thomas Tillis (R-NC). Cosponsored by seven Democrats and three Republicans. Referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs the same day. Still in committee.
Comment: The new definition of manufactured home strikes the requirement that the manufactured home be placed “on a permanent chassis” and replaces that with “with or without a permanent chassis.” All state and federal certifications for manufactured homes are to be revised to include manufactured homes without a permanent chassis.

S.2416 - Identifying Regulatory Barriers to Housing Supply Act. To require certain grantees under title I of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 to submit a plan to track overly burdensome land use policies.
Introduced July 23, 2025 by Todd Young (R-IN). Cosponsored by three Democrats [Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Tina Smith (D-MN), and Brian Schatz (D-HI)] and two Republicans. Referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs the same day. Still in committee.
Comment: This seems to be a compromise bill, with elements that will make Democrats happy-angry and Republicans happy-angry. Among other things, it reverses the defunding of Department of Housing and Urban Development. Additionally, it allows manufactured homes to count as single-family residences, as well as duplexes and triplexes. It also reduces minimum lot size.

S.2423 - Streamlining Rural Housing Act of 2025. To require the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and the Secretary of Agriculture to enter into a memorandum of understanding relating to housing projects.
Introduced July 23, 2025 by Jerry Moran (R-KS). Cosponsored by five Democrats and three Republicans. Referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs the same day. Still in committee.
Comment: This bill is extraordinarily vague. It forces Department of Housing and Urban Development and Department of Agriculture to work together on rural housing, while the stated goal is terribly unclear.

H.R.4733 - Low-Income Household Water Assistance Program Establishment Act. To authorize the Low-Income Household Water Assistance Program.
Introduced July 23, 2025 by Eric Sorensen (D-IL). Cosponsored by eleven Democrats and eight Republicans. Pennsylvania Republicans Robert Bresnahan and Brian Fitzpatrick cosponsored, but neither John Joyce nor Lloyd Smucker did. Referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and Energy and Commerce the same day. Still in committee.
Comment: Similar to the existing LIHEAP program for home energy bills and weatherization costs, but for water.

July 23, 2025 alert: July 23, 2025 business meeting to consider nominations. Business meeting to consider the nominations of Benjamin DeMarzo, of Virginia, to be an Assistant Secretary, and Craig Trainor, of Virginia, to be an Assistant Secretary, both of the Department of Housing and Urban Development … – Link has video of the business meeting (approximately 30 minutes).

S.2441 - Build Now Act of 2025. To provide for adjustments to community development block grant allocations based on improvements in housing growth rates.
Introduced July 24, 2025 by John Kennedy (R-LA). Cosponsored by Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). Referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs the same day. Still in committee.
Alert: Unexpected bipartisanship! Even if limited.

S.2460 - RESIDE Act (Revitalizing Empty Structures Into Desirable Environments Act). To establish a pilot program to convert blighted buildings into housing.
Introduced July 24, 2025 by Jim Banks (R-IN). Cosponsored by Mark Warner (D-VA). Referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs the same day. Still in committee.

S.2463 - Eviction Right to Counsel Act of 2025. To provide grants to State and local governments that enact or are fiscally responsible for implementing right to counsel legislation for low-income tenants facing eviction.
Introduced July 24, 2025 by Cory Booker (D-NJ). Cosponsored by three Democrats and one Independent [Bernie Sanders (I-VT)]. Referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs the same day. Still in committee.
Comment: The $100 million annually would not only provide legal counsel for indigent persons facing eviction, but would train public defenders to take on such cases.

July 26, 2025 alert: July 29, 2025 meeting. 10:00AM(EDT), 538 Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. Business meeting to markup an original bill entitled, “ROAD to Housing Act of 2025.” Meeting Details – As of December 31, 2025, names of witnesses, video, and transcript are still unavailable.

S.2489 - Modular Housing Production Act. To conduct a review of Federal Housing Administration construction financing programs.
Introduced July 28, 2025 by Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). Cosponsored by Jim Banks (R-IN). Referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs the same day. Still in committee.
Comment: This bill would permit FHA financing for the construction of manufactured and modular housing.

S.2651 - ROAD to Housing Act of 2025 (Renewing Opportunity in the American Dream to Housing Act of 2025). To increase the supply of affordable housing in America.
Introduced August 1, 2025 by Tim Scott (R-SC). No cosponsors. Referred to Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. Original measure reported to Senate by Senator Scott SC. Without written report. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 143.
Alert: As chair of this Committee, Tim Scott was able to push this bill through committee in a single day, with no discussion and no report. It is a very, very long bill, allegedly addressing issues of homelessness, manufactured housing, and related.
Are there really no checks and balances to prevent a committee chair from steamrolling a piece of legislation through committee? This is already on the Senate Legislative Calendar, with no reports or studies to back it up. And not a single cosponsor.
Critical note: Although placed on the Senate calendar, no vote has taken place as of December 31, 2025. See above for aborted committee meeting that was supposed to serve as markup session for this bill and apparently did not take place.
Asking for a friend: Tim Scott shenanigans?

S.2668 - HOME Act of 2025 (Housing Oversight and Mitigating Exploitation Act of 2025). To protect consumers from price gouging of residential rental and sale prices.
Introduced August 1, 2025 by Jacky Rosen (D-NV). Cosponsored by Amy Klobuchar (D-MN). Referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs the same day. Still in committee.
Comment: This type legislation is critical, especially to states like Nevada where renters experienced and continue to experience price gouging. During COVID, rents tripled or quadrupled, even though landlords’ mortgages were not increasing. The surge in homelessness in Las Vegas was terrible to witness.
This bill, or one like it, is critical to middle class America.

PN462-1 – August 1, 2025. Following the resignation of Julia Ruth Gordon, President Trump nominated Francis Cassidy to be an Assistant Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. Received in the Senate and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.

PN462-3 – August 1, 2025. President Trump nominated Joseph Gormley, of Maryland, to be President, Government National Mortgage Association, vice Alanna McCargo. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Received in the Senate and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.

H.R.4856 - Revitalizing America’s Housing Act. To improve the safety of, affordability of, and access to housing.
Introduced August 1, 2025 by Michael Lawler (R-NY). No cosponsors. Referred to the Committee on Financial Services and Ways and Means and Oversight and Government Reform and Energy and Commerce and Veterans’ Affairs the same day. Still in committee.
Comment: If you have the tools and patience to compare this very long bill to Tim Scott’s S.2651, please post here! Like Scott’s bill, this one is very long. Like Scott’s bill, it has no cosponsors.

H.R.4921 - PUPP Act of 2025 (Providing for Unhoused People and Pets Act of 2025). To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to make grants to modify and upgrade structures to serve as interim and permanent housing to accommodate unhoused individuals with pets.
Introduced August 8, 2025 by Jason Crow (D-CO). Cosponsored by two Republicans and one Democrat. Referred to the Committee on Agriculture and the Committee on Financial Services the same day. Still in committee.

H.R.4957 - Rural Housing Service Reform Act of 2025. To reform rural housing programs.
Introduced August 12, 2025 by Zachary Nunn (R-IA). Cosponsored by six Democrats and five Republicans. Referred to the Committee on Financial Services and the Committee on Agriculture the same day. Still in committee.
Comment: This is a very long bill. If you read or write about rural issues, you may want to delve into the details of this proposed legislation.

CHILDCARE

No legislation.

FMLA

No legislation.

FOSTER CARE

H.R.4769 – Foster Youth Mentoring Act of 2025. To support the establishment or expansion and operation of programs using a network of public and private community entities to provide mentoring for children and youth with experience in foster care.
Introduced July 25, 2025 by Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA). Cosponsored by fourteen Democrats and two Republicans. The Republicans: Don Bacon (R-NE) and Zachary Nunn (R-IA). Referred to Ways and Means the same day. Still in committee.
Comment: Why is this a Democratic issue? Please read the full text of this bill and let me know what so many House Republicans find offensive in it.

H.R.4972 - Create Accountable Respectful Environments (CARE) for Children Act. To amend part E of title IV of the Social Security Act to address or assist in resolving the shortage of appropriate foster homes for children, to develop resources to keep sibling groups together, and to provide for a system of checks and balances to ensure a child’s ongoing safety and well-being, by providing for the placement of a foster child in cottage family homes and making a child so placed eligible for foster care maintenance payments.
Introduced August 15, 2025 by Gregory Steube (R-FL). Cosponsored by eighteen Republicans and four Democrats (Debbie Wasserman Schultz-FL, Darren Soto-FL, Jared Moskowitz-FL, and Eugene Vindman-VA). Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means the same day. Still in committee.
Comment: Don’t get too excited about a House Republican bill that appears to care about foster children. This is the usual House Republican approach, tax credits or deductions instead of real change. In this case, “cottage homes” or “cottage family homes” are now eligible for maintenance payments.

SNAP

S.2512 - EATS Act of 2025 (Enhance Access To SNAP Act of 2025). To amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to remove certain eligibility disqualifications that restrict otherwise eligible students from participating in the supplemental nutrition assistance program.
Introduced July 29, 2025 by Kirstein Gillibrand (D-NY). Cosponsored by eleven Democrats (including John Fetterman), one Independent (Bernie Sanders), and no Republicans. Referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry the same day. Still in committee.

H.R.4797 - EATS Act of 2025 (Enhance Access To SNAP Act of 2025). To amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to remove certain eligibility disqualifications that restrict otherwise eligible students enrolled in institutions of higher education from participating in the supplemental nutrition assistance program.
Introduced July 29, 2025 by Jimmy Gomez (D-CA). Cosponsored by ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-SIX DEMOCRATS AND ZERO REPUBLICANS. Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture the same day. Brendan Boyle (D-PA-2), Christopher Deluzio (D-PA-17), Dwight Evans (D-PA-3), Summer Lee (D-PA-12), Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA-5) were among the 133 cosponsors. Still in committee.
Angry comment: What do Republicans have against well-nourished, not-starving children?!

S.2559 - Summer Meals REACH Act of 2025 (Summer Meals Reaching Every Area’s Child Hunger Act of 2025). To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to eliminate certain requirements under the summer food service program for children.
Introduced July 30, 2025 by Andy Kim (D-NJ). No cosponsors. Referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry the same day. Still in committee.

H.R.4939 - SNAP Study Act of 2025. To require the Secretary of Agriculture to submit an annual report to Congress on the state of food security and diet quality in the United States, including the impact of changes to the supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP), and to provide policy recommendations for improving nutrition outcomes for both participants and nonparticipants.
Introduced August 8, 2025 by Keith Self (R-TX). No cosponsors. Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture the same day. Still in committee.
Comment: If this had not been introduced by a Republican, I would think it was all right. But I suspect there’s an agenda behind this bit of proposed legislation.

UNEMPLOYMENT-UNDEREMPLOYMENT

No legislation.

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