Sen. Mike Braun, R-Indiana., and a coalition of eight other Republican U.S. Senators are taking aim at energy-efficiency standards for new housing construction, citing the additional costs they would add to the purchase of new homes.
In April, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) settled on the new standards for the construction of new single-family and multifamily homes, aiming to fulfill a requirement laid out in a 2007 law that directs the departments to adopt the most recently published energy-efficiency standards following reviews by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and HUD itself.
But Braun — along with fellow senators and co-sponsors Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, John Barrasso and Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, Roger Marshall of Kansas, Pete Ricketts of Nebraska, Eric Schmitt of Missouri, and Todd Young of Indiana — has sponsored a new bill that would roll these standards back.
“Buying a home is more expensive than ever for Americans,” Braun said in a statement provided to HousingWire. “We shouldn’t be making them even more expensive with government mandates that could add as much as $31,000 to the price of a new home. My bill will repeal this new Biden administration mandate so we can lower the cost of housing for American families.”
The bill has four core provisions, according to information shared by Braun’s office.
It would repeal the HUD/USDA final determination and require the agencies to revert to the 2009 standards already in effect; and would prohibit the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) from implementing a similar mandate for VA mortgages.
It would also “clarify” that the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has “no statutory authority to impose similar mandates;” and “reforms the underlying law by prohibiting HUD and USDA from adopted new efficiency mandates unless 26 states have already adopted similar standards.”
“For every $1,000 increase in the price of a home, 140,000 Americans are priced out of the market,” Braun’s office said. “Americans are less able to afford a home than practically any other time in our nation’s recent history, and these provisions put homeownership further out of reach for millions of Americans.”
A bill with identical language was previously introduced into the House of Representatives by Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona in June. That version, featuring 14 Republican co-sponsors, was referred to the House Financial Services Committee but has not moved from there since June 5.
Braun’s office said that the bill has the support of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). An NAHB representative confirmed for HousingWire that its previously established support for Rep. Biggs’ House bill transfers to this Senate version.
