July 21, 2025
Mr. Schatz (for himself and Mr. Banks) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
To amend title 49, United States Code, to include affordable housing incentives in certain capital investment grants, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
Section 1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the Build More Housing Near Transit Act of 2025
.
Sec. 2. Affordable housing incentives in capital investment grants
Section 5309 of title 49, United States Code, is amended—
(1)
in subsection (a)—
(A)
by redesignating paragraph (6) as paragraph (7); and
(B)
by inserting after paragraph (5) the following:
(6) Pro-housing policy
The term pro-housing policy—
(A)
means any State or local action that will remove regulatory barriers to the construction or preservation of housing units, including affordable housing units; and
(B)
shall include any State or local action that—
(i)
reduces or eliminates parking minimums;
(ii)
establishes a by-right approval process for multi-family housing under which land use development approval is limited to determining that the development meets objective zoning and design standards that—
(I)
involve no subjective judgment by a public official;
(II)
are uniformly verifiable by reference to an external and uniform benchmark or criterion available to both the land use developer and the public official prior to submission; and
(III)
include only such standards as are published and adopted by ordinance or resolution by a jurisdiction before submission of a development application;
(iii)
reduces or eliminates minimum lot sizes;
(iv)
commits substantial publicly-held real property to the development or preservation of housing that includes a substantial number of dwelling units affordable to low-income households; or
(v)
eliminates or raises residential property height limits or increases the number of dwelling units permitted to be constructed under a by-right approval process; and
(vi)
carries out other policies as determined by the Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.;
(2)
in subsection (g)(2), by adding at the end the following:
(D) Eligibility for adjustment of rating for project justification criteria for pro-housing policies
In evaluating and rating a project as a whole for project justification under subparagraph (A), the Secretary may increase 1 point on the 5-point scale (high, medium-high, medium, medium-low, or low) the rating of a project if the applicant submits documented evidence of pro-housing policies for areas located within walking distance of, and accessible to, transit facilities along the project route.
(E) Consultation
In awarding the increased rating described in subparagraph (D), the Secretary shall consult with the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to develop the methodology to evaluate, as feasible, the extent to which the pro-housing policies documented by the applicant will result, through new production and preservation, in an amount of housing units, including housing units affordable below the area median income, that is appropriate to expected housing demand in the project area over the life of the project.; and
(3)
in subsection (o)—
(A)
in paragraph (1)—
(i)
in subparagraph (B), by striking and
at the end;
(ii)
in subparagraph (C), by striking the period at the end and inserting ; and
; and
(iii)
by adding at the end the following:
(D)
information concerning projects for which the applicant submitted pro-housing policies under subsection (g)(2)(D) and received an adjustment of rating for project justification, including the pro-housing policies submitted and the amount of housing units expected through new production and preservation, including affordable housing, as a result of the expected results of the policies, as measured under subsection (g)(2)(E).