The nationwide housing shortage could be alleviated by federal legislation that uses transparency to encourage local governments to remove obstacles limiting new home construction, according to a new coalition letter by National Taxpayers Union released Wednesday.
The letter, signed by a coalition of 27 free-market advocates, is in support of the bipartisan Identifying Regulatory Barriers to Housing Supply (IRBHS) Act, led by Rep. Mike Flood (R-NE), Chairman of the Housing and Insurance Subcommittee of the House Financial Services Committee, and introduced in the Senate by Senator Todd Young (R-IN).
The bill would require localities receiving federal Community Development Block Grants to report whether they have adopted policies that impact housing supply. Those policies include zoning restrictions, building fees, environmental rules, and parking requirements.
“In 2022, there was a nationwide housing deficit of 3.85 million units, which is more than twice the deficit from a decade prior,” National Taxpayers Union Senior Director of Government Affairs Tommy Aiello said. “Until barriers like onerous zoning restrictions, building fees, environmental laws, and excessive parking requirements are addressed, millions of families will continue to suffer from the country’s lack of affordable housing.”
The bill works by improving transparency around zoning practices, empowering communities with the information needed to modernize outdated regulations and expand housing supply while making more effective use of existing federal dollars.
“Rather than throwing more money at the problem, this legislation focuses on removing obstacles that prevent current taxpayer investments from achieving their full impact,” according to the letter.
In addition to National Taxpayers Union, the letter was signed by:
- 60 Plus Association
- American Association of Senior Citizens
- Americans for Prosperity
- Bluegrass Institute
- Bullmoose Project
- Center for a Free Economy
- Center for Freedom and Prosperity
- Consumer Action for a Strong Economy
- Epcon Communities
- Family Business Coalition
- Frontier Institute
- Hispanic Leadership Fund
- Illinois Policy
- Independent Women (Center for Economic Opportunity)
- Consumer Choice Center
- The LIBRE Initiative
- Market Institute
- Pinpoint Policy Institute
- Pioneer Institute
- The Platte Institute
- R Street Institute
- Rhode Island Center for Freedom and Prosperity
- Rio Grande Foundation
- Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council
- Southwest Public Policy Institute
- Young Voices
National Taxpayers Union is the only free-market organization for taxpayers that unites effective advocacy with useful research about how to limit taxes, spending, and regulation at every level and branch of government—state, federal, administrative, and judicial.