U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Raphael Warnock (D-GA) joined U.S. Reps. Emanual Cleaver (D-MS) and Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) to introduce legislation designed to bring down housing costs.
The legislation, the Innovation Fund Act, would establish a program to reward communities taking innovative steps to increase the housing supply. The bill would create a competitive pot of flexible funding for communities that are building more housing. That funding can be used to improve community infrastructure, build housing, and supplement water and sewer grants, the law makers said.
Warren, Ranking Member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, first introduced the legislation in 2018 in her American Housing and Economic Mobility Act. The bill is included in the ROAD to Housing Act which passed the Senate in the FY 2026 NDAA.
The legislation would award competitive grants to municipalities that demonstrate improvement in the housing supply, and require applicants to describe how they are currently expanding their housing supply. Additionally, the legislation would prioritize eligible entities that demonstrate the use of innovative policies, allow eligible entities to use the funds to use the grants as matching funds for water and sewer grants, and to facilitate the expansion of attainable housing supply.