On February 9, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 6644, the Housing for the 21st Century Act, under suspension of the rules—a fast-track procedure reserved for measures leadership believes can clear an unusually high bar. The bill passed with 390 Yeas and 9 Nays, exceeding the two-thirds threshold required under suspension. This process also limits floor debate, prohibits floor amendments, and forces an up-or-down vote on the package as written.
The vote caps a steady build that began in committee: House Financial Services advanced the bill in December by a near-unanimous vote (reported 50–1), and supporters spent the run-up to floor action urging members to help secure the broad margin required to move it quickly.
For quick reference, see the committee’s one-pager here and the section-by-section breakdown here.
House sponsors are framing the package as a supply-focused response to the affordability crunch. The committee’s message is straightforward: when housing supply doesn’t keep pace with demand, prices rise—and bringing down costs requires reducing delays, modernizing tools, and strengthening financing pathways that support construction and preservation.
Raising the bank PWI cap from 15% to 20%
The bill includes the Community Investment and Prosperity Act proposal to increase the cap on banks’ Public Welfare Investments (PWI) from 15% to 20%. For Housing Credit stakeholders, this is one of the most consequential finance provisions in the package because it directly affects how much capacity banks have to invest in community development activities—including Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (Housing Credit) equity.
Industry advocates have emphasized that this change is particularly timely given the recent Housing Credit expansion signed into law last year, and that increasing the PWI cap could help the market absorb and deploy additional credits by expanding bank investment capacity.
Supporters point to recent survey findings cited by advocates: more than 42% of Housing Credit investment in 2024 came from banks nearing their PWI cap, based on a survey of 22 banks representing more than $14 billion in 2024 Housing Credit investments.
Advocates also view this provision as well positioned to remain through endgame negotiations because a PWI cap increase appears in both the House package and the Senate’s comprehensive housing framework, even if other elements shift in a final compromise.
NEPA & HUD Environmental Review Streamlining
The package includes NEPA and HUD environmental review streamlining provisions, framed by supporters as tools to reduce development delays—especially for small, infill, and HUD-assisted housing projects that can be disproportionately impacted by long review timelines and duplicative processes. These provisions are among the bill’s most frequently cited “supply-side” components: the theory is that faster reviews can shorten project timelines, reduce carrying costs, and help more housing get built sooner.
HOME/BABA Exemption Removed
One notable change from earlier versions involves Build America, Buy America (BABA) requirements and the HOME program. Previous committee language would have exempted HOME-funded projects from BABA, but that exemption was removed in the updated bill text following pushback from labor and key Democrats.
In its place, the updated bill directs HUD to evaluate BABA implementation and issue updated guidance within 90 days. Stakeholders understand that some House leaders—particularly within the Housing and Insurance Subcommittee—may continue pressing for a HOME/BABA exemption to be included later, but that would likely occur after the House floor vote, in the context of a negotiated final package between the House and Senate.
Broad Coalition Forms Ahead of House Vote & What Comes Next
The House Financial Services Committee highlighted how more than 70 groups—from housing advocates and local governments to builders, lenders, and major housing-market platforms—have endorsed the package, an unusually wide coalition for a major floor vote.
Now that the House has approved the bill, attention shifts immediately to the Senate, where lawmakers are expected to take up their own comprehensive package, the ROAD to Housing Act, in the coming weeks. Because the two bills are not identical, the most likely path forward is a House–Senate negotiation to produce a single compromise measure that can pass both chambers later this year.