Congressional leaders in the House and Senate have reached an agreement to vote on a short-term funding bill that staves off a partial government shutdown set to go into effect on March 1. It is expected to pass both the House and Senate on Thursday, February 29. The continuing resolution (CR) will give lawmakers until March 8 to complete drafting and reviewing the first six appropriations bills. The final six bills will be given a deadline of March 22. The spending levels in these appropriations bills will be per the bipartisan agreement reached in the previous year, which is tied to a deal on raising the debt ceiling. However, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.-4) still has to deal with a divided Republican conference that remains split on the issue of passing additional stopgap measures unless certain policy provisions are included. NAA is keeping a close eye on all these developments, particularly the potential impact a future shutdown could have on issues important to the housing industry.
The NAA’s Government Affairs team is making steady progress with congressional lawmakers on its three legislative priority bills and adding additional cosponsors. Thanks to the educational efforts and relationship-building opportunities facilitated by NAAPAC, U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) have agreed to introduce S. 3755, The Respect State Housing Laws Act. This legislation is the Senate companion bill to H.R. 802, which ends the CARES Act’s federal notice to vacate the requirement for federally backed and federally assisted housing. The NAA’s Government Affairs team is also identifying potential avenues to pass S. 1688/H.R. 3507, The Yes in My Backyard Act and S. 32/H.R. 4606, The Choice in Affordable Housing Act. Attendees of this year’s NAA Advocate Conference will have an opportunity to share the importance of these three bills with their federal lawmakers. NAAPAC remains a significant advocacy tool that allows us to promote legislation crucial to the rental housing industry's interests. It's worth noting that your support enables us to educate members of Congress about the importance of these bills and generate momentum among both Republicans and Democrats.
We encourage you to join NAA’s monthly Advocacy and Legal Webinar (ALW) series to see what else the NAA’s Government Affairs team is working on. NAA discusses its federal advocacy efforts, state and local trends we’re tracking from across the country and the latest legal news you need to know to help you keep up with your compliance responsibilities. To register for next month’s Advocacy and Legal Webinar (ALW) on March 20, 2024, please click here.
If you have additional questions about how your NAAPAC is working to support our legislative champions, please do not hesitate to contact us at [email protected].