A Rare Housing Consensus Faces Its November Test

A Rare Housing Consensus Faces Its November Test

A Bipartisan Breakthrough Three Decades in the Making

For one brief season, housing united Washington. The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, a sweeping package spanning disaster recovery, rural housing, homelessness, manufactured housing and supply-side reform, became law on July 11 with overwhelming bipartisan majorities. The National Low Income Housing Coalition called it the first major bipartisan housing package to become law since the 1990s, a 59-provision bundle years in the making.

89 to 10, Then 396 to 13: The Votes Behind It

The margins were lopsided at every stage. On March 12 the Senate passed its version 89-10 under Banking Committee Chair Tim Scott (R-SC) and Ranking Member Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). On May 20 the House followed 396-13, steered by Financial Services Chair French Hill (R-AR) and Ranking Member Maxine Waters (D-CA). Final passage cleared the Senate 85-5 and the House 358-32, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center — numbers almost unheard of for major legislation in a polarized Congress.

A Refused Signature and a Voter-ID Demand Crack the Facade

The consensus cracked at the president's desk. President Trump declined to sign the bill, letting it become law without his signature, reportedly because he wanted Congress to first pass his priority on national voter-ID requirements, the SAVE America Act. The episode signaled that the executive branch's enthusiasm for implementing the law cannot be taken for granted — and that housing could quickly become a partisan bargaining chip again.

Four States, Six Ballot Measures: A 20-Year High

While Washington celebrates, the states are running their own experiments. Voters in California, Hawaii, Massachusetts and Rhode Island will decide six housing measures in November — the most in a single election year in at least two decades, per Ballotpedia. Three were referred by legislatures, three are citizen initiatives, and most target the same barriers Congress tackled: land use, zoning and permitting. California's Proposition 1 would sell $11.25 billion in general obligation bonds — $10 billion for housing programs plus $1.25 billion for veterans' home loans — subsidizing up to 40,000 multifamily rental units, per the Legislative Analyst's Office. Proposition 37 would let the state housing finance agency issue up to $25 billion in revenue bonds for down-payment loans covering up to 17 percent of the price for buyers resident at least a year, earning under 200 percent of area median income, with at least 3 percent down. Rhode Island would authorize $120 million in housing bonds, at least $25 million for homeownership production and up to $10 million for public housing — two years after voters approved a like-sized $120 million bond with 65 percent support. Massachusetts would allow single-family homes on 5,000-square-foot lots with 50 feet of frontage and public water and sewer, where many towns now demand 40,000 square feet or more.

Mortgages Above 7.5 Percent Meet the November 3 Midterms

The verdict arrives November 3, when the midterms decide control of Congress. The backdrop is grim: average 30-year mortgage rates topping 7.5 percent, with Freddie Mac's weekly average hitting 7.40 percent in early October, its highest since November 2023. Apartment List reports 52 percent of renters are cost-burdened, spending over 30 percent of income on housing — more than 22 million households, a record. A Pew Research Center survey of 5,062 adults, including 3,917 registered voters, found 84 percent call the economy very important to their vote, including 82 percent of Republicans and 88 percent of Democrats. Housing sits alongside groceries and energy at the heart of that frustration. If November flips Congress, funding and follow-through for this year's bipartisan deal — and every housing fight after it — could look very different.