Cornhusker State News

U.S. Senator Pete Ricketts (R-NE) has introduced the Streamlining Rural Housing Act, a bipartisan bill aimed at making rural housing development more efficient. Senators Jerry Moran (R-KS), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), and Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) joined as co-sponsors.

The proposed legislation directs the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to establish a memorandum of understanding for evaluating the feasibility of joint environmental review and inspection processes. The goal is to streamline procedures that currently require separate compliance steps from each agency.

“Duplicative red tape and burdensome regulations create additional costs and deter much-needed investments in rural affordable housing,” said Ricketts. “The Streamlining Rural Housing Act is the first step to enhance efficiency and eliminate conflicting requirements that delay approvals so that we can build more housing in rural Nebraska. When I was Governor of Nebraska, our state created a rural workforce housing fund to help administer support to communities for rural housing needs, like construction costs, down payment assistance, and technical assistance.”

Senator Moran highlighted the increased demand for rural housing in Kansas: “Across Kansas, the demand for rural housing has been on the rise, and it’s important that we find innovative solutions to address this issue,” said Moran.“Streamlining rural housing regulations between HUD and USDA will simplify the regulatory process for developers, allowing them to more efficiently address the growing housing needs in Kansas and across the country.”

Senator Shaheen pointed out challenges with federal regulations: “To address the shortage of quality, affordable housing in rural areas, federal regulations need to work for communities rather than against them,” said Senator Shaheen.“I’m glad to join my colleagues in introducing bipartisan legislation that would improve and streamline environmental reviews and housing unit inspections so that we can build more homes and lower costs where it’s needed most.”

Gallego addressed broader concerns about affordable housing nationwide: “Americans are facing an affordable housing crisis. We need to build more housing and build it fast to bring down costs and get more people into homes,” said Gallego.“Government should be part of the solution, but right now it’s part of the problem. By reducing red tape and streamlining redundant processes, this bipartisan bill will accelerate construction, lower costs, and get more desperately needed homes on the market.”

Colleen Fisher, Executive Director of the Council for Affordable and Rural Housing (CARH), expressed support for the measure: “The Council for Affordable and Rural Housing (CARH) applauds the efforts of Senators Moran, Ricketts, Shaheen, and Gallego in introducing this important legislation which will help streamline program requirements at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the United States Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development (RD) programs,” said Colleen Fisher.“Many times when housing developers and owners are operating a property here is a need to have multiple sources of funding so that the property can cash flow and rents are at levels that low-income residents can afford. When this occurs, the agencies require separate if not identical inspections, somewhat negating the purpose of having multiple layers of funding, thus increasing regulatory costs. By requiring one inspection, operating costs will be reduced or redirected toward services on properties. The approach envisioned in the bill has been supported by several different Administrations, with the goal of reducing regulatory burdens and improving delivery of affordable housing programs.”

When projects receive funding from both HUD’s programs as well as USDA’s Rural Development initiatives—such as those supporting low-income families or addressing aging infrastructure—they often face duplicate environmental reviews or inspections from each agency before proceeding with construction or repairs. This increases administrative expenses for developers while delaying completion timelines during periods when demand for new or improved rural homes continues rising.

Memoranda of Understanding between agencies have previously been used by various government entities as a way to resolve overlapping compliance requirements.

The full text of this legislation is available online.