Housing BOOM Act

Full Title:
Housing BOOM Act

Summary#

This bill is a large, multi-part housing package. It increases housing tax credit capacity, creates new funds and grant programs, raises funding for many existing housing programs, and adds new offices and interagency coordination. The bill sets prevailing-wage (Davis-Bacon) requirements for construction on projects that receive many of the new funds.

Key components in the bill include: a change to the low-income housing tax credit state ceiling formula; a Middle-Income Housing Construction Loan Fund for rental housing serving households at 60–120% of area median income; a Workforce Housing Block Grant to States; a Housing Accelerator Program for projects ready to build; higher annual authorizations for CDBG, HOME, USDA rural rental programs, Indian housing block grants, supportive housing programs (elderly and disabled), housing for people with AIDS, and disaster resilience; grants to convert hotels and vacant buildings to shelters; a program to convert unused state and local buildings to affordable rental housing; expanded homelessness assistance funding; creation of a SAMHSA Center for Unhoused Individuals and large mental and behavioral health grant funding for unhoused people; an Office of Eviction Prevention inside HUD; funding to increase housing vouchers by 1,000,000 over 2026–2035; and a new Interagency Council on Housing Affordability and Preservation plus a HUD Language Access Plan requirement.

What it means for you#

If enacted, the bill would direct federal money and new programs toward building and preserving rental housing across many income levels, expanding homelessness and supportive services, and increasing tenant-focused services such as eviction prevention and housing navigators. The bill would require prevailing wages on many publicly funded construction projects. The bill also requires HUD and other agencies to coordinate on housing strategy and language access. Specific local effects and timelines would depend on later agency rules, competitive award processes, and appropriation of the authorized funds.

Expenses#

The bill includes many specific authorizations of appropriations for fiscal years 2026 through 2030 (amounts per year unless noted):

  • Middle-Income Housing Construction Loan Fund: $10,000,000
  • Workforce Housing Block Grant: $5,000,000,000
  • Housing Accelerator Program: $1,000,000,000
  • Community Development Block Grant (Title I) increase: $4,200,000,000
  • HOME program: $1,500,000,000 plus $500,000,000 for childcare projects
  • National Disaster Resilience Competition (CDBG): $1,000,000,000
  • USDA rental housing (section 515): $70,000,000
  • Indian Housing Block Grants: $200,000,000
  • Supportive Housing for the Elderly (Section 202): $1,646,000,000
  • Supportive Housing for Persons with Disabilities (Section 811): $360,000,000
  • Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS: $600,000,000 plus $500,000,000 for an HIV initiative
  • Grants for converting structures to emergency shelters: $250,000,000
  • Grants to convert state/local government buildings: $750,000,000
  • Homelessness assistance (subtitle B): $3,750,000,000; (subtitle C): $4,450,000,000
  • SAMHSA Center for Unhoused Individuals: $10,000,000
  • Mental and Behavioral Health Response Grants for unhoused individuals: $1,000,000,000
  • Tenant-based rental assistance: authorization to appropriate an amount sufficient to increase vouchers by 1,000,000 from 2026 to 2035 (not a specified yearly dollar amount)
  • Grants for housing assistance and navigation services: $50,000,000
  • Eviction Protection grants: $100,000,000 and $100,000,000 for Office personnel and activities
  • Interagency Council on Housing Affordability and Preservation: $4,800,000

Many programs include Davis-Bacon prevailing-wage requirements for construction funded by the bill.

Proponents' View#

No publicly available information.

Opponents' View#

No publicly available information.