Cornhusker State News

The Senate Banking Committee has unanimously approved the Renewing Opportunity in the American Dream (ROAD) to Housing Act of 2025, with a 24-0 vote. U.S. Senator Pete Ricketts (R-NE) announced that the legislative package includes the Streamlining Rural Housing Act, which he introduced last week.

“Across Nebraska, rural housing has been a huge demand,” said Ricketts. “When I was Governor of Nebraska, our state created a rural workforce housing fund to be able to help communities and developers to be able to create more rural housing stock. At the state level, we made this a simple program and it was very successful. I’ve heard from housing developers in Nebraska that have challenges when they are drawing money from both HUD and USDA Rural Development because of the overlapping authorities. These agencies require separate processes for environmental review and housing inspections. This produces more regulatory costs and bureaucratic red tape, which leads to delays to completion in projects. The Streamlining Rural Housing Act will require the two agencies to enter into a memorandum of understanding to align the different housing standards. This bill is the first step to enhance efficiency and eliminate conflicting requirements that delay approvals so we can build more housing in rural states like Nebraska and across the country.”

Senator Ricketts also supported several other bills included in the ROAD to Housing Act of 2025: the Housing Supply and Innovation Framework Act, Rural Housing Service Reform Act, VA Home Loan Awareness Act, and Veterans Affairs Loan Informed Disclosure (VALID) Act.

Ricketts made his comments during a business meeting of the Senate Banking Committee.