Rep. Ilhan Omar proposes $1 trillion for affordable housing

WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar is introducing legislation meant to ensure that affordable housing is available to anyone in the United States who needs it.

The Minneapolis Democrat rolled out her "Homes for All Act" on Thursday. The plan would pour a whopping $1 trillion into affordable-housing projects over a decade, with a goal of creating 12 million new units in that time.

The legislation would also establish a permanent federal funding stream aimed at making homes more affordable.

"Every American deserves a safe and stable place to live, but unfortunately, our current free-market housing system is not meeting the needs of working families," reads a briefing on the proposal released by Omar's office.

The briefing says Omar's proposal would be the first large-scale federal investment in affordable housing since President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal. Her office said it's the opening volley in what will be a package of affordable-housing bills from a group of progressive House Democrats.

The National Low Income Housing Coalition found that no U.S. metro area currently has an adequate supply of rental housing for their poorest residents, according to Omar's office.

Omar's bill would lift a federal prohibition on spending on new public housing projects, then pour $1 trillion into those efforts through several programs.

Current federal spending for all of fiscal year 2020 is projected to be just over $4.7 trillion. Omar's office, while not specifically explaining how she'd cover such costs, said she would argue that it's affordable if Congress is also willing to spend $2.2 trillion on tax cuts (the projected cost over a decade of the 2017 Republican tax bill) or the $6 trillion the U.S. is estimated to have spent on wars since Sept. 11, 2001.

Patrick Condon • 202-662-7452