A path forward, bipartisan wins
During a time when partisanship seems to be the new "normal," I wanted to take a moment to share three bipartisan wins. Bipartisanship does exist, and first up, I want to talk about the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act:
This bill is not a be-all-and-end-all fix to the housing affordability crisis, but it provides real solutions to the barriers in the way of constructing more affordable housing and the challenges that renters face. It would:
- Expand the number of homes, apartment complexes, and other housing options by reducing unnecessary regulatory barriers to new home construction.
- Prevent private equity firms from buying significant numbers of single-family homes.
- Create a renter complaint hotline and resource center for reporting, monitoring and resolving renter disputes with large institutional investor landlords.
- Establish procedures for timely responses by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and large institutional landlords and connect renters with State authorities.
- Require annual reporting on renter disputes and annual notification by large institutional landlords to HUD about the number and location of their properties.
- Support community financial institutions that provide critical financing to homebuyers and housing developers.
The second bipartisan victory is the Ensuring Rural Health Care Access for Military and Tribal Families Act.
As health care costs continue to rise, rural hospitals that provide care for local servicemembers, like Island Health in Anacortes, are struggling to maintain their current operations. This legislation will help more rural hospitals receive Critical Access Hospital designation, creating a cost-saving lifeline that will preserve vital services and ensure quality medical care for servicemembers. I will keep fighting to protect rural hospitals and the communities they serve in Northwest Washington.
The third bipartisan victory is the BUILD America 250 Act.
Every day is Infrastructure Day in Northwest Washington. The BUILD America 250 Act will employ women and men in my district building roads, bridges, highways, transit, culverts and more. You cannot have a big-league economy with little-league infrastructure, and the investments made by the BUILD America 250 Act will upgrade Northwest Washington's infrastructure and upgrade our economy.
More soon,
Rick
