119-s3092

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3092 Introduced in Senate

    (IS) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 S. 3092

 To amend subchapter IV of chapter 31 of title 40, United States Code, 
 regarding prevalent wage determinations in order to expand access to 
 affordable housing, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

 November 3, 2025

 Mr. Moran introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
 referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To amend subchapter IV of chapter 31 of title 40, United States Code, 
 regarding prevalent wage determinations in order to expand access to 
 affordable housing, 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 ``Affordable Housing Expansion Act''.

SEC. 2. UPDATES TO WAGE RATE CALCULATIONS.

    (a) In General.--

Section 3142

    (b) of title 40, United States Code, 
is amended--

    (1) by striking ``work in the civil'' and inserting the 
 following: ``work--
 ``

    (1)
        (A) in the civil''; and

    (2) by striking ``, or in the District'' and inserting the 
 following: ``; or
 ``
        (B) from geographic groupings other than civil 
 subdivisions of the State (which may include metropolitan 
 statistical areas or other groupings determined appropriate by 
 the Secretary), as long as projects in metropolitan labor 
 markets are not used as a source of data for a wage 
 determination in a nonmetropolitan labor market; or
 ``

    (2) in the District''.

    (b) Changes to Survey Methodology.--

Section 3142 of title 40, 
United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
 ``

    (f) Survey Information Collection.--By not later than 1 year 
after the date of enactment of the Affordable Housing Expansion Act, 
the Secretary shall--
 ``

    (1) review the Secretary's method of collecting survey 
 information for determining prevailing wages for purposes of 
 subsection

    (a) ; and
 ``

    (2) revise how such survey information is collected, 
 following a public notice and opportunity for public comment, 
 by--
 ``
        (A) including surveys that allow for reliable and 
 objective sources of data and a defendable methodology, 
 which may include information collected through Bureau 
 of Labor Statistics surveys; and
 ``
        (B) improving the percentage of businesses 
 choosing to participate in prevailing wage 
 determination surveys and ensuring proportional 
 representation of businesses represented by labor 
 organizations and businesses not represented by labor 
 organizations in the prevailing wage determination 
 surveys that are completed.''.

SEC. 3. MULTIPLE WAGE RATE DETERMINATIONS.

 

Section 3142 of title 40, United States Code, as amended by 

section 2, is further amended by adding at the end the following:
 ``

    (g) Federal Housing Acts.--A determination of prevailing wages by 
the Secretary of Labor applicable under 

section 212

    (a) of the National 
Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1715c

    (a) ), 

section 104

    (b)

    (1) of the Native 
American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996 (25 
U.S.C. 4114

    (b)

    (1) ), 

section 12

    (a) of the United States Housing Act of 
1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437j

    (a) ), or 

section 811

    (j)

    (5) of the Cranston-
Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 8013

    (j)

    (5) ) shall 
be limited to 1 wage rate determination under subsection

    (b) of this 
section that corresponds to the overall residential character of the 
project.''.

SEC. 4. DAVIS-BACON MODERNIZATION WORKING GROUP.

    (a) 

=== Definition. ===
-In this section, the term ``Davis-Bacon 
Modernization Working Group'' means the working group established under 
subsection

    (b)

    (1) .

    (b) Establishment.--

    (1) In general.--Not later than 60 days after the date of 
 enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Labor, in consultation 
 with the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, shall 
 establish, within the Department of Labor, a Davis-Bacon 
 Modernization Working Group to recommend the update and 
 modernization of certain requirements under subchapter IV of 
 chapter 31 of title 40, United States Code, as described in 
 subsection
            (c) .

    (2) Date of establishment.--The Davis-Bacon Modernization 
 Working Group shall be considered established on the date on 
 which a majority of the members of the Davis-Bacon 
 Modernization Working Group have been appointed, consistent 
 with subsection
            (d) .
            (c) Duties.--The Davis-Bacon Modernization Working Group shall--

    (1) recommend whether, and if so by how much, the 
 residential classification can be applied to affordable housing 
 units with 5 stories or more for purposes of prevailing wage 
 determinations under subchapter IV of chapter 31 of title 40, 
 United States Code;

    (2) develop administrative and legislative recommendations 
 of ways, and for what specific circumstances in which, the 
 prevailing wage rate requirements under subchapter IV of 
 chapter 31 of title 40, United States Code, could be waived or 
 streamlined for certain affordable rental Federal Housing 
 Administration new construction projects; and

    (3) review the potential positive and negative outcomes of 
 directing the Bureau of Labor Statistics to determine 
 prevailing wages (rather than the Secretary of Labor under 
 

section 3142

    (b) of title 40, United States Code), in a way that 
 would not rely on the collection of voluntary surveys from 
 businesses but rather on data that is already collected by the 
 Bureau of Labor Statistics.
            (d) Members.--

    (1) In general.--The Davis-Bacon Modernization Working 
 Group shall be composed of the following representatives of 
 Federal agencies and relevant non-Federal industry stakeholder 
 organizations:
        (A) A representative from the Department of Labor, 
 appointed by the Secretary of Labor.
        (B) A representative from the Department of Housing 
 and Urban Development, appointed by the Secretary of 
 Housing and Urban Development.
            (C) A representative of a housing construction 
 industry association, appointed by the Secretary of 
 Labor in consultation with the Secretary of Housing and 
 Urban Development.
            (D) A representative of a financial services 
 industry association, appointed by the Secretary of 
 Labor in consultation with the Secretary of Housing and 
 Urban Development.
        (E) A representative of an affordable housing 
 industry association, appointed by the Secretary of 
 Labor in consultation with the Secretary of Housing and 
 Urban Development.
        (F) A representative of a State public housing 
 agency, as defined in 

section 3 of the United States 
 Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437a), appointed by the 
 Secretary of Labor in consultation with the Secretary 
 of Housing and Urban Development.
        (G) A representative of a tribally designated 
 housing entity, as defined in 

section 4 of the Native 
 American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act 
 of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 4103), appointed by the Secretary of 
 Labor in consultation with the Secretary of Housing and 
 Urban Development.
        (H) A representative of a labor organization 
 representing the housing construction workforce, 
 appointed by the Secretary of Labor in consultation 
 with the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.

    (2) Chair.--The representative from the Department of Labor 
 appointed under paragraph

    (1)
        (A) shall serve as the chair of 
 the Davis-Bacon Modernization Working Group, and that 
 representative shall be responsible for organizing the business 
 of the Davis-Bacon Modernization Working Group.

    (e) Other Matters.--

    (1) No compensation.--A member of the Davis-Bacon 
 Modernization Working Group shall serve without compensation.

    (2) Support.--The Secretary of Labor may detail an employee 
 of the Department of Labor to assist and support the work of 
 the Davis-Bacon Modernization Working Group, though such a 
 detailee shall not be considered to be a member of the Davis-
 Bacon Modernization Working Group.

    (f) Report.--

    (1) Reports.--Not later than 1 year after the date on which 
 the Davis-Bacon Modernization Working Group is established, the 
 Davis-Bacon Modernization Working Group shall submit a report 
 containing its findings and recommendations under subsection
            (c) , including recommendations resulting from the review under 
 subsection
            (c) (3) , to the Secretary of Labor, the Committee on 
 Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate, and the 
 Committee on Education and Workforce of the House of 
 Representatives.

    (2) Majority support.--Each recommendation made under 
 paragraph

    (1) shall be agreed to by a majority of the members 
 of the Davis-Bacon Modernization Working Group.

    (g) Nonapplicability of FACA.--Chapter 10 of title 5, United States 
Code, shall not apply to the Davis-Bacon Modernization Working Group.

    (h) Sunset.--The Davis-Bacon Modernization Working Group shall 
terminate on the date the report is completed under subsection

    (f)

    (1) .

SEC. 5. NATIONAL HOUSING ACT.

 

Section 212

    (a) of the National Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1715c

    (a) ) is 
amended by striking ``similar character, as determined by the Secretary 
of Labor in accordance with the Davis-Bacon Act, as amended (40 U.S.C. 
276a--276a-5)'' and inserting ``residential character, as determined by 
the Secretary of Labor in accordance with subchapter IV of chapter 31 
of title 40, United States Code, that is applicable at the time the 
application is filed''.

SEC. 6. HOUSING ACT OF 1959.

 

Section 202

    (j)

    (5)
        (A) of the Housing Act of 1959 (12 U.S.C. 
1701q

    (j)

    (5)
        (A) ) is amended by striking ``similar character, as 
determined by the Secretary of Labor in accordance with the Act of 
March 3, 1931 (commonly known as the Davis-Bacon Act)'' and inserting 
``residential character, as determined by the Secretary of Labor in 
accordance with subchapter IV of chapter 31 of title 40, United States 
Code, that is applicable at the time the application is filed''.

SEC. 7. NATIVE AMERICAN HOUSING ASSISTANCE AND SELF-DETERMINATION ACT 
 OF 1996.

 

Section 104

    (b)

    (1) of the Native American Housing Assistance and 
Self-Determination Act of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 4114

    (b)

    (1) ) is amended by 
striking ``, as predetermined by the Secretary of Labor pursuant to the 
Act of March 3, 1931 (commonly known as the Davis-Bacon Act; chapter 
411; 46 Stat. 1494; 40 U.S.C. 276a et seq.),'' and inserting ``for 
corresponding classes of laborers and mechanics employed on 
construction of a residential character, as predetermined by the 
Secretary of Labor pursuant to subchapter IV of chapter 31 of title 40, 
United States Code, that is applicable at the time the application is 
filed,''.

SEC. 8. CRANSTON-GONZALEZ NATIONAL AFFORDABLE HOUSING ACT.

 

Section 811

    (j)

    (5)
        (A) of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable 
Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 8013

    (j)

    (5)
        (A) ) is amended by striking ``similar 
character, as determined by the Secretary of Labor in accordance with 
the Act of March 3, 1931 (commonly known as the Davis-Bacon Act)'' and 
inserting ``residential character, as determined by the Secretary of 
Labor in accordance with subchapter IV of chapter 31 of title 40, 
United States Code, that is applicable at the time the application is 
filed''.

SEC. 9. UNITED STATES HOUSING ACT OF 1937.

 

Section 12

    (a) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 
1437j

    (a) ) is amended by striking ``, as predetermined by the Secretary 
of Labor pursuant to the Davis-Bacon Act (49 Stat. 1011)'' and 
inserting ``for corresponding classes of laborers and mechanics 
employed on construction of a residential character, as predetermined 
by the Secretary of Labor pursuant to subchapter IV of chapter 31 of 
title 40, United States Code, that is applicable at the time the 
application is filed''.
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