The Senate on Monday passed a bill aimed at lowering the cost of housing.
The bill, called the 21st Century Road to Housing Act, passed 358-32 in the House. It had a similar level of support in the Senate as well. The bill had bipartisan support.
Senators Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) lead the charge for the bill and had support from House Reps. French Hill (R-Ark.) and Maxine Waters (D-Calif.).
“Today’s vote proves that it is possible to find bipartisan, common ground on legislation that actually helps the American people. And, importantly, it proves that bipartisan legislation doesn’t have to be the weakest, most milquetoast agreement that doesn’t offend anyone or do too much to help anyone either,” Warren said on the floor before the vote.
One of the 45 provisions in the bill bans private equity from purchasing single-family homes. This point was fiercely argued between Republicans in both chambers for months, according to The Hill. While Senate Republicans sought a complete ban on corporations buying homes, their counterparts in the House wanted to ease that language.
In the end, companies that already own more than 350 single-family homes are restricted from buying more.
The housing bill also provides federal grants for disaster recovery. While the Senate wanted to make the program indefinite, the House wanted to allow it to lapse. The final version authorizes the program for three years.
However, in the wake of the good news of the bill’s passage, Trump posted on social media that he would cancelling the signing of the bill unless Congress passes the highly-restrictive voter ID bill known as the Save America Act.
