Congress has now officially sent President Donald Trump a major housing affordability bill, which just one member of Ohio’s delegation voted against.
The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act cleared both chambers of Congress last Monday and Tuesday by overwhelmingly bipartisan votes.
In an interview with the Statehouse News Bureau earlier in June, U.S. Sen. Bernie Moreno said lawmakers on both sides of the aisle worked close together on the final version of the legislation
“There’s a lot of my initiatives,” Moreno said. “The one that prevents institutional investors, giant Wall Street firms, from coming into communities like Delaware or Powell or Sunbury or Bexley and buying up all kinds of single family homes, locking people out of the market and jacking up, artificially, prices.”
Other measures within the ROAD to Housing Act both seek to encourage housing construction by contractors, easing some regulations to get federal financing, and to make it easier for prospective buyers to actually do so.
Rep. Warren Davidson (OH-8), a Republican, was the only Ohio official — Democrat or Republican — to vote "no."
But for the last week, Trump has refused to sign the bill, canceling a Wednesday signing ceremony minutes before it was scheduled and just yesterday saying the bill was a “yawn.” His grievance stems from the Senate’s lack of action on the SAVE America Act, a controversial election bill.
A spokesperson for Moreno did not comment regarding Trump’s refusal to sign it.
Even if Trump does nothing, the ROAD to Housing Act would become law without his signature within the next 10 days.
