J. Hill

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WASHINGTON -- U.S. Rep. French Hill, R-Ark., began this Congress with his sights on passing legislation addressing housing affordability.

The Little Rock congressman led the push in the House of Representatives on a housing measure, which received overwhelming bipartisan support. After the Senate passed similar legislation, Hill worked with Senate leaders to finalize a singular, definitive bill.

That measure -- the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act -- became law after midnight Saturday despite President Donald Trump's indifference to the legislation. Trump did not sign the bill, citing the Senate's lack of progress with passing an unrelated voter registration proposal.

"I believe this bill was a major economic policy success for this Congress and for American families," Hill told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. "Across the country, I think it will lead to more housing being constructed, which will help offer families more choices and more affordable prices, whether you're in a blue state or a red state."

The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act intends to lower housing costs and boost new home construction. The law calls for streamlining reviews of housing projects to expedite development, improving interagency coordination on housing programs, and offering assistance to local communities for building more houses.

Aniket Mehrotra, a policy coordinator at the nonprofit Urban Institute, highlighted changes affecting manufactured home construction. This includes an updated definition to include homes not built on a permanent chassis, which advocates say will encourage home innovation.

"There are many regulations in the housing market that maybe once served a purpose, but are either outdated, not serving their intended purpose, or unnecessary," Mehrotra explained.

Hill, a bank executive before entering public office, secured language providing small community banks with regulatory flexibility. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, an independent agency responsible for monitoring the nation's financial system, defines community banks as institutions with less than $10 billion in assets.

The Arkansas Bankers Association celebrated the community banking changes. Lorrie Trogden, the organization's president and CEO, said the flexibility will improve how these smaller financial institutions "help families purchase homes, finance small businesses, support farmers, and invest in the communities they call home."

The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act also restricts large institutional investors from purchasing certain single-family homes. This language follows a January executive order instructing federal agencies to stop assisting entities seeking to acquire these structures.

The law defines large institutional investors as parties with direct or indirect ownership of 350 or more homes.

Steve Sherman, an associate director of research at Rice University's Kinder Institute for Urban Research, noted large institutional investors own a small percentage of single-family homes in the United States. These purchases, however, have been heavily concentrated in "certain neighborhoods and submarkets."

"There are new companies and investors emerging that focus on specific income strata and neighborhoods that have specific sociodemographics," Sherman said. "It's a really diverse set of actors."

The issues of housing affordability and supply have attracted bipartisan attention with homeownership becoming more unattainable for many Americans. The National Association of Realtors on Thursday said the median existing home price reached $440,600 in June, a record in data dating back to 1999. The organization mentioned stalled supply growth as another issue impacting the housing market.

When Hill became chair of the House Financial Services Committee in January 2025, the congressman set a goal of getting housing legislation through this Congress. Hill credited Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., and the Senate Banking Committee for laying the foundation for what would evolve into bipartisan legislation.

"We started out with good center-right oriented policy," Hill explained. "We found there was Democratic support for that policy."

The House Financial Services Committee advanced its bill last December, which the full House approved in February. The Senate responded in March by passing its own legislation with notable differences from the House package, including the absence of language on community banking.

The House passed a revised measure in May. Following the vote, Hill called on his Senate counterparts to "complete the task" and pass the legislation.

The congressional back-and-forth ended last month when leaders of the House Financial Services Committee and the Senate Banking Committee unveiled a single comprehensive package. The Senate approved the final bill 85-5, followed by the House's 358-32 vote.

"In my view, it just took tenacity and perseverance to hang in for the longer, more protracted negotiation," Hill said.

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren -- the leading Democratic senator on the legislative effort -- has described the package as the most significant housing legislation in more than three decades.

"It will build more housing, bring down costs, and stop private equity from buying up single-family homes for the first time ever," Warren said Friday in a statement.

The White House backed the legislative endeavors, initially endorsing the Senate bill in March before supporting the revised House measure two months later. A bill signing ceremony was even planned for June 24 on Capitol Hill.

Trump, however, canceled the ceremony, saying he would not sign the bill into law until Congress approved the SAVE America Act. The voting proposal would require individuals to provide proof of citizenship when registering to vote in federal elections and show a photo ID at the time of voting.

The House passed earlier versions of the voting legislation, but it lacks sufficient support in the Senate.

Legislation can still become law without the president's signature. Once Congress presents an approved bill to the White House, the president has 10 days -- excluding Sundays -- to either approve or veto the measure. If the president does nothing, the legislation becomes law.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., sent the bill to the White House on June 29, starting the timer. Trump did not act on the housing package before Saturday, allowing the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act to become law.

Hill said he was not offended by Trump's refusal to sign the housing bill, citing the White House's past statements backing Congress' work.

"This bill, being enacted into law at 12:01 a.m., is just as much a law as one signed into law," the congressman said.

Despite the law's aim at housing affordability, Sherman said Congress should go further by considering legislation confronting other factors affecting home costs, including a nationwide construction worker shortage and rising insurance costs.

"People just aren't earning enough money to pay the rent or pay the mortgage, plus all the other costs of home ownership," he said. "I think it's important to not just think about housing, but think about people's pocketbooks. Think about all the other things that are necessary to own a home."

Mehrotra told the Democrat-Gazette that the law is a "really important first step" in addressing the nation's housing challenges, emphasizing its focus on housing supply.

"This bill may not have an immediate effect on housing affordability for most, but it doesn't make it any less important or critical as a first step," he said.

Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., secured a legislative win in the housing law. The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act contains the senator's VALID Act, which aims to assist veteran homeowners by requiring Federal Housing Administration mortgage disclosures to include information about the Department of Veterans Affairs' home loan benefits.

Boozman, of Rogers, and Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., introduced the VALID Act as an individual bill in June 2025.