Top House Republicans this week say they pulled together a rare coalition of supporters for their long-awaited, revised bipartisan housing package \u2014 but the outlook for the bill is anything but cheery.<\/p>\n
The House\u2019s new bill is an amended version of the Senate\u2019s 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act<\/a>. House lawmakers removed a key but controversial provision<\/a> that would force large investors to sell build-to-rent single-family homes seven years after construction. Several House Republicans and Democrats alike were opposed to the provision<\/a> over concerns it would affect tenants\u2019 ability to find housing, as well as discourage companies from building more rentals.<\/p>\n House leadership said the changes in the new package are enough to pull together a broad coalition of supporters, allowing them to bring it to the floor for a vote next week.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we\u2019ve tried to do is find a coalition of both Democratic and Republican comments and priorities and place them in this bill so that we can provide the support for housing,\u201d Rep. French Hill, the chair of the House Financial Services Committee, told NOTUS, adding that the changes were \u201cessential\u201d because \u201cwe didn\u2019t have the votes in the House for the Senate bill as drafted.\u201d<\/p>\n Hill said that he believes the bill \u201ccan achieve a strong bipartisan vote on the House floor next week.\u201d<\/p>\n But there are signs that the Republican conference is not as united as the lawmakers spearheading the effort would like. And the changes to the legislation go against what the Senate and the White House<\/a> have called for, and both would need to be on board in order for the House bill to get anywhere.<\/p>\n At the White House, there\u2019s already consternation about it.<\/p>\n \u201cThe bill is under review,\u201d a White House spokesperson said. \u201cNew provisions were added before the administration had a chance to review or provide technical assistance.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere may be serious policy concerns or implementation challenges,\u201d they added.<\/p>\n As Republicans burn more time before bringing it to the floor, some conservative House Republicans privately say they\u2019re starting to have issues with the legislation, particularly after weeks of negotiations between the Senate and White House that House lawmakers were elbowed out of.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a number of folks in conference who feel like the bill may be too favorable to the Senate Democrats,\u201d one House Republican, who was granted anonymity to speak candidly, told NOTUS. \u201cThere\u2019s concern in the House that that housing bill needs to be reworked.\u201d<\/p>\n A second House Republican said there are remaining frustrations toward the Senate for changing the House\u2019s initial bill, which passed<\/a> in February in a 390-9 vote.<\/p>\n \u201cThe House feels like we got screwed,\u201d said the second House Republican.<\/p>\n \u201cWe passed our bill, and they threw it in the garbage,\u201d this lawmaker continued. \u201cI don\u2019t think you have a Democrat-Republican problem here; it\u2019s the perennial issue of the House versus the Senate.\u201d<\/p>\n