Scott Perry

U.S. Rep. Scott Perry was the only Pennsylvania Congressman to vote against the recent bipartisan bill that aimed to make more affordable housing available.

Janelle Stelson doesn’t want anyone to forget it.

The Democratic nominee for Pa.’s competitive 10th Congressional District laid out a supplemental housing plan Wednesday that she pledged to work for if elected.

It includes:

Efforts to reduce the costs of building materials like drywall and lumber by rolling back the Trump Administration’s tariffs.

Exercising the fiscal discipline needed to close federal deficit spending, which she says is partly to blame for higher mortgage interest rates. Stelson did not offer any specific strategies to close budget deficits.

Prioritizing new federal spending on existing programs that do help prospective first-time buyers get into the market, like the mortgage guarantees offered by the Federal Housing Administration.

“This is really important, especially if you’re just starting out... I want to expand small-dollar home loans so a family looking to buy a modest starter home is not left with no financing options while big banks chase bigger loans on bigger houses,” she said.

Stelson, appearing at a still-developing residential neighborhood on the site of a former industrial plant in Carlisle, also hammered home the point that she would have been a ‘yes’ vote on the recently-enacted “21st Century Road to Housing Act,” which Perry did vote against.

The bill passed by lopsided majorities in both the House and Senate and then became law without President Trump’s signature.

The new federal bill is not considered landmark legislation in itself.

But it does contain some long-needed course corrections that housing experts say may help stimulate affordable housing markets.

One new provision, for example, eliminates a longstanding requirement that manufactured homes — homes built in a factory and delivered by truck — must be built on a steel chassis.

Proponents say that’s a change that could shave thousands of dollars of cost off these homes and expand the types of designs producers can offer.

Other clauses give cities greater leeway to use HUD funds directly for housing construction, and change the formula for certain block grant programs to encourage municipal leaders to make policy changes that could add their housing supply, like allowing greater density and faster permitting.

“These are pro-growth, common sense solutions that put people over politics,” Stelson said.

“Perry makes excuses, but this legislation was supported even by conservative Republicans. It is just another example of Scott Perry putting his own extreme politics over the people of our community.”

At his own campaign rally Monday, Perry said he voted against the housing bill primarily because of unrelated language over potential creation of a central bank digital currency, which he vehemently opposes.

“They put a sunset on (a prohibition against) one in the housing bill, which was one of the prime reasons I voted against the housing bill,” Perry said. “What that is is the date it turns on. That’s what that is to the federal government. So what we said is: ‘Get rid of the sunset, just say you’re never going to do it, and we’ll be okay.’

“But they won’t say they’re never going to do it because they want to do it and they’re going to do it if we (Republicans) lose the House and the Senate.”

Perry, seeking an eighth term in the House, and Stelson are facing off in a rematch of one of the closest House races in the nation from 2024.

This year, it has been classified by Cook’s Political Report as one of just 19 toss-up races out of 435 nationwide.

Stelson also said Wednesday Perry has been part of the housing problem by supporting a Trump Administration agenda that’s caused the national debt to balloon, contributing to higher interest rates for mortgage loans.

But that is truly a problem with bipartisan ownership.

According to the us-debt-clock.com website, the national debt has grown by $11.55 trillion since the start of the Biden Administration, with $8.45 trillion of that coming on Biden’s watch, and $3.1 trillion added in Trump’s second term.

The 10th District is comprised of all of Dauphin County, most of Cumberland County and the roughly the northern half of York County.