House Housing and Insurance Subcommittee Chairman Mike Flood (R‑NE) and Representative Maggie Goodlander (D‑NH) introduced the Build Housing Affordably Act today. The bill would require HUD to undertake a comprehensive study of how Build America, Buy America (BABA) rules affect affordable housing projects funded by HUD programs and to report the study’s findings to Congress. It would pause BABA’s application to HUD programs until 60 days after HUD files that report, and—once BABA is reinstated—mandate that HUD act on BABA waiver requests within 90 days of submission.
The required study would assess direct costs for procuring construction materials and indirect compliance costs (including administrative expenses, consultant fees, and waiver pursuit costs); delays in projects attributable to BABA; projects left unfinished because of compliance burdens; and the number of affordable units not built due to BABA‑related costs. HUD would also have to review its waiver policies and procedures, waiver processing times, the count of waivers granted, the use and effectiveness of public‑interest waivers, the operation of HUD’s de minimis waiver, and which materials and products most often prompt waiver requests.
The The National Council of State Housing Agencies (NCSHA) has formally endorsed the legislation. Bill text, a short summary, and a section‑by‑section summary are available here. NCSHA says it anticipates the House Financial Services Committee will mark up the bill soon.