WASHINGTON — When U.S. senators return to Capitol Hill in September after summer recess, they'll find a rare package on the table: the first bipartisan housing bill in more than a decade.

The Renewing Opportunity in the American Dream (ROAD) to Housing Act, which unanimously advanced out of the Senate Banking Committee last week, gives lawmakers a chance to address an affordability crisis and more in legislation that comes with several provisions backed by Sens. Dave McCormick and John Fetterman, including a push to make Pennsylvania's popular Whole-Home Repairs program go national.

The bill — which saw Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott, R-S.C., thank members on both sides of the aisle for their contributions last week — comes after months of contentious debate, almost entirely along party lines, over separate tax and spending policy and the Trump administration's overhauls of the federal government. When the House and Senate reopen for business after Labor Day, lawmakers again face the specter of a government shutdown if a spending deal isn't reached by Sept. 30.

But bolstering the U.S. housing supply, expanding access and affordability, improving oversight of programs, and trying out a five-year pilot program based on Pennsylvania's grant and loan program for repairs, seems to be one of the few things lawmakers not only agree on but may successfully advance in a narrowly divided Congress.

"The affordable housing crisis is a huge issue in Pennsylvania," McCormick said in a statement, noting he recently toured community development projects in Pittsburgh alongside Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner. "This is key to the American Dream, and it's a challenge for Americans across our communities."

The senator said the bipartisan bill before the Senate begins with the premise that "the status-quo is unacceptable."

"From ever-increasing costs to buy a new home, including double-digit growth in Pennsylvania, to long searches for affordable apartments and rent that's out of reach, we need innovative solutions, and that's exactly what this bill offers," he said.

McCormick also introduced or co-sponsored a handful of other measures worked into the package, including requiring HUD and Veterans Affairs to share data on housing research, a push for the Federal Housing Authority to study multi-family loan limits and improve HUD grants amid a tough housing market, and an effort to help homeless veterans access housing.

The nationwide version of the Whole-Home Repairs Act, re-introduced in January by Fetterman and backed by McCormick, would establish a five-year pilot HUD program offering grants and forgivable loans to low- and moderate-income homeowners and small landlords to address home repair needs and health hazards. Lawmakers say the move would boost aging housing stock and preserve affordable units, while supporting neighborhood revitalization.

"You should be able to stay in your home and repair as needed — not forced to move out and find an overpriced replacement," Fetterman posted on social media last week. "This program was a success in (Pennsylvania) and we should absolutely make it national."

First proposed in 2022 in Harrisburg by state Sen. Nikil Saval and then-state representative and now-Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato, the home repairs program received bipartisan support from lawmakers and backing by a number of housing, environmental, health and other groups across Pennsylvania. The program relied on $125 million in aid tied to pandemic relief, awarding eligible homeowners up to $50,000 in grants.

While more than 2,600 homes were repaired under the program, more than 18,000 are still on a waiting list, WHYY reported last month.

Gov. Josh Shapiro's proposed budget — with lawmakers still negotiating a state spending plan a month past the constitutional deadline — included $50 million for a home repair program, $10 million to help first-time homebuyers with closing costs, investments in zoning and permitting to speed up construction, and a new interagency homelessness council.

The Keystone State is short by at least 100,000 housing units and almost two-thirds of homes were built before 1970, according to the governor's office. Renters across Pennsylvania have increased by almost 200,000 over the last 15 years.

The federal housing bill is one of many issues lawmakers hope to tackle when they return to Washington in September, as affordability and a lack of inventory have risen as major concerns for voters regardless of political ideology or geography.

The number of units rented for less than $1,000 monthly, adjusted for inflation, cratered by more than 30% between 2013 and 2023 — almost 25 million units to 17.2 million, according to a 2025 report on the state of housing nationwide by the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University. The stock of rentals for $2,000 or more almost tripled over the same period, from 3.6 million to 9.1 million.

Almost a quarter of all homeowners, and half of all renters, are cost-burdened with more than 30% of their income spent on housing and utilities, the Harvard center reported.

In June, existing-home sales in the U.S. were down almost 3% from May, according to the National Association of Realtors. The median home sales price in June was $435,300 — a 2% increase from the prior year and a record high for the month.

In the Pittsburgh region that month, however, more than a quarter of home listings were marked down, according to Zillow, marking a shift away from a seller's market boosted by the pandemic.

The Pennsylvania Association of Realtors last month reported that median home prices in June rose 6.5% compared to last year, from $305,000 to $325,000, while the number of listings climbed almost 10%, from 38,100 to 41,600. June home sales compared to last year in the commonwealth are up about 8% statewide, from 10,938 to 11,850.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., the top Democrat on the Banking Committee, said last week that bipartisan provisions in the ROAD to Housing Act will help reduce homelessness, improve disaster recovery, and expand access for renters and homeowners, including veterans and rural Americans.

She also said the package will support communities looking to build more housing and eliminate red tape.

"For years, the American people have called on their elected officials to act to reduce housing costs," she said in a statement. "The Scott-Warren legislation represents what is possible when both parties put families ahead of politics. It's a significant step in the right direction."

______

© 2025 the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Visit www.post-gazette.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.