Senator Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) is cosponsoring bipartisan legislation to reauthorize and modernize the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act (NAHASDA).
First enacted in 1996, the NAHASDA created the Indian Housing Block Grant (IHBG), a formula-based grant program, and the Title VI Loan Guarantee, which provides financing guarantees to Indian tribes for private-market loans to develop affordable housing, with later amendments expanding the program for Native Hawaiians.
The new bill to reauthorize this program extends it through 2033 and expands it to include Alaska Natives, along with reforms to environmental reviews, reporting, and federal requirements to reduce delays and accelerate housing development.
Other provisions include expansions and codifications of federal anti-homelessness programs, such as the HUD-VASH program for Native veterans, enhanced Tribal self-determination by providing greater control over procurement, rent policies, program design, and use of funds, and expanding access to private financing by reauthorizing and improving Section 184 and 184A loan guarantee programs and expanding lender participation.
"Arizona's affordable housing crisis isn't just contained to our cities; it's impacting Tribes and Native communities, too," said Sen. Gallego in his press release, adding, "They need real, tangible resources to help them bring down costs, and by updating and modernizing NAHADA, the federal government can help do that. We must pass this commonsense, bipartisan legislation."
Last week, he and Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ) were part of a Democratic coalition urging Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Scott Turner not to cut funds used for federal housing counseling programs, warning it would leave homebuyers and homeowners vulnerable.
"Pre-purchase counseling has been a cornerstone of HUD's counseling program since 1968, created specifically to open the doors of homeownership to Americans who had long been shut out, and it remains just as essential today," the Arizona Senators wrote, adding, "Narrowing eligible counseling services and allowing funding gaps of this magnitude abandons Americans at the two moments they need help the most: when they are trying to buy their first home, and when they are at risk of losing it."
