Saving the American Dream Act
Saving the American Dream Act would require five federal housing-related agencies to collaborate more closely. Within one year of enactment, the heads of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the Department of the Treasury, and the Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) must establish a memorandum of understanding (or similar interagency agreement) to share housing research and market data. They must also jointly prepare a report outlining policy proposals on several housing issues, including federal housing finance programs, mortgage costs, housing construction and development incentives, local regulatory barriers, insurance costs, down payment assistance, and disaster resilience and recovery. The goal is to promote evidence-based policymaking across these areas. In short, the bill aims to formalize coordination and data-sharing across major housing agencies and to generate a coordinated policy roadmap addressing financing, construction, regulation, and resilience to improve housing outcomes in the United States.
Key Points
- 1Interagency memorandum of understanding: HUD, USDA, VA, Treasury, and FHFA must establish an agreement within 1 year to share and coordinate housing-related research and market data to inform policymaking.
- 2Joint policy report: Within 1 year, these agencies must submit a report to the designated committees outlining policy proposals on seven housing topics (financing programs and coordination, mortgage origination/servicing costs, construction and development incentives, local regulatory barriers, insurance costs/availability, down payment assistance, and disaster resilience and recovery).
- 3Covered agency heads: The bill only applies to the heads of HUD, USDA, VA, Treasury, and the FHFA (i.e., the key federal agencies involved in housing finance and policy).
- 4Appropriate committees: The report is to be submitted to specified Senate and House committees, including Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs; Veterans’ Affairs; Finance; and Financial Services; and Ways and Means.
- 5No new funding specified: The bill creates requirements for interagency cooperation and reporting but does not itself authorize new appropriations.