119-s2363

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2363 Introduced in Senate

    (IS) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 S. 2363

 To amend title 49, United States Code, to include affordable housing 
 incentives in certain capital investment grants, and for other 
 purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

 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

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 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) .''.
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