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The $332 billion in housing investments in the Biden social infrastructure plan is on the chopping block, although House Democrats are making a last-ditch effort to keep it in.
Over the weekend, the Washington Post reported that investments in housing will likely be the first items to be left off the social infrastructure package as the progressive wing dukes it out with breakaway Democratic Senators Joe Manchin, of West Virginia, and Arizona's Kyrsten Sinema.
On Monday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) told her members that there would be three categories for the social spending bill — healthcare, child and elder care, and climate — and none of them are housing.
Her three categories don't necessarily preclude investments to retrofit housing. But the fact that House Democrats are already on the back foot says to me that Pelosi intends to axe the housing investments, including any version of a down payment assistance bill.
But as the housing crisis worsens, leaving off a potentially historic investment in affordable housing would likely be unpopular. Outside of the beltway, proponents of affordable and social housing have already voiced their displeasure.
Pelosi's own members are also apparently irritated. On Wednesday, Congresswoman Maxine Waters whipped up all the Democratic members of the House Financial Committee she chairs to criticize the removal of housing investment from the social infrastructure package in a letter. She argued that housing does fit into all three of the buckets that Pelosi outlined.
"Housing is health care, it is stability for children, it is climate justice, and it is
racial justice," wrote Waters. "This is an investment that simply cannot wait and must be included at robust levels in the budget reconciliation package."
Will her argument find a sympathetic ear in Pelosi? Doubtful, I think, but we'll see.
Georgia Kromrei
Senior Mortgage Reporter, HousingWire
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