President Joe Biden dedicated portions of his State of the Union speech last week to call on Congress to help pass legislation that would increase access to affordable housing.
Using a recurring theme of “finishing the job,” Biden called on Congress to finish the job of getting more families access to affordable and quality housing.
Biden is seeking support to further his Housing Supply Action Plan which was announced in May 2022. The plan seeks to increase housing supply as a way to increase access to homes and bring down the cost of renting and homeownership.
“The President believes that policies that boost the supply of affordable housing are critical to easing the burden of rising housing costs for renters and aspiring homeowners, and must be taken in combination with actions that address near-term housing affordability and promote fair housing,” the White House said in a press release.
Biden also called on Congress to take renewed action to reduce homelessness amongst the veteran population.
As part of initiatives from the Department of Veterans Affairs, the federal government was able to permanently house over 40,000 veterans who had been experiencing persistent homelessness.
Biden said the government needed to do more to support those it sends into harm’s way by “helping veterans afford their rent because no one should be homeless in this country, especially not those who served it.”