KLAS: Rep. Susie Lee pushes housing overhaul benefiting Nevada

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Democratic Nevada Rep. Susie Lee has helped advance the bipartisan Housing for the 21st Century Act, a sweeping housing package designed to expand the nation’s affordable housing supply and reduce costs for families.

The legislation focuses on long‑delayed improvements to federal housing programs, addressing affordability challenges that have intensified nationwide.

“We need to build more housing families can afford. I hear from folks daily who are struggling to keep a roof over their head, and they deserve housing that is safe, stable, and affordable,” said Lee in a statement. “This commonsense, bipartisan bill is a meaningful and important first step towards lowering costs and making the dream of home ownership a reality for Nevadans.”

Key Provisions of the Housing for the 21st Century Act

According to the bill summary and supporting materials, the legislation includes several major components:

• Reauthorization and expansion of the HOME Investment Partnership Program, including raising the maximum eligible income.
  Since 1992, the HOME program has invested $264.1 million in Nevada, helping build or preserve 8,910 homes, delivering rental assistance to more than 1,350 families, supporting over 15,800 jobs, and generating roughly $1 billion in local income.
• Greater flexibility for Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds, including newly authorized uses for constructing affordable housing.
  Clark County currently receives approximately $8.5 million annually in CDBG funding to support low‑ and moderate‑income communities.
• Permanent exclusion of veterans’ disability payments from income calculations under the HUD‑VASH program, which provides housing vouchers and supportive services for veterans.
  HUD‑VASH has issued more than 2,000 vouchers in Nevada from 2008 through 2024, enabling veterans and their families to access market‑rate rental housing while receiving case management from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Beyond these targeted changes, the bill also includes measures to expand access to homeownership, support manufactured housing development, create pathways for small‑dollar mortgages, enhance borrower protections, and strengthen oversight of public and assisted housing providers.

Lee is also a cosponsor of the Housing Oversight and Mitigating Exploitation (HOME) Act, introduced alongside Rep. Steven Horsford. The bill seeks to combat rising housing costs by addressing price‑gouging behaviors by large corporate investors who purchase housing stock at scale and contribute to rapidly increasing home prices.