Enterprise: Community Developments: Enterprise Releases Report on Off-Site Construction to Expand Affordable Housing Supply

• Today, the Enterprise Policy Development & Research team released its new report on Overcoming Barriers to Bringing Off-Site Construction to Scale at Enterprise's 10th annual Affordable Housing Design Leadership Institute (AHDLI) in Cleveland, Ohio. Our research identifies opportunities and barriers to using prefabrication to expand the supply of affordable homes and address cost challenges, focusing on four key elements: 1) Financing; 2) Design and Quality; 3) Regulations and Logistics; and 4) Construction Timeline and Cost. This white paper is the first in a series that looks at opportunities and challenges to innovate around construction, design and production to bring those innovations to scale to help expand the supply of affordable homes and address cost challenges. Read our new white paper on the Enterprise websiteand learn more about its key findings in our new blog post.

• Yesterday, the House Financial Services Committee voted unanimously 58-0 to advance the “Reforming Disaster Recovery Act of 2019” (H.R. 3702) to the House for a vote. The bipartisan bill is sponsored by Representative Al Green (R-TX-9) and builds off legislation introduced by Representative Ann Wagner (R-MO-2) in the 115^th Congress. H.R. 3702 would reform and permanently authorize the Community Development Block Grant - Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) Program at HUD. The bill directs HUD to issue regulations for the CBDG-DR Program; prioritizes the needs of low and moderate-income disaster survivors; creates a significant set-aside for disaster mitigation activities; sets reasonable timelines for allocation, action plans, and grant agreements; and promotes interagency coordination between HUD and FEMA. Enterprise applauds Chairwoman Maxine Waters (D-CA-43), Reps. Green and Wagner, and other members of the Committee for their persistence and bipartisan approach that led to yesterday's significant achievement. Learn more about the bill and its next steps on Enterprise's blog.

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• The Coalition on Human Needs is holding a national call in day on Monday, July 22^nd to urge that Congress enact a two-year budget deal to raise the spending caps to levels at least a high as those already passed by the House and to raise the debt ceiling limit to prevent a potential default on national debt. If Congress fails to reach a budget agreement to raise the spending caps, then there will be automatic cuts, known as sequestration, across federal programs. The House leaves Washington for an August recess at the end of next week, and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin warned last week that the U.S. could breach its debt limit in early September, before lawmakers return to the Capitol.

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Courtesy of Enterprise