Exclusive / Senators to introduce new bipartisan housing bill

Senators will introduce a new bipartisan bill today, shared first with Semafor, that would roll back federal regulations in an effort to improve homelessness programs.

The legislation from Sens. Tina Smith, Mike Rounds, Mike Crapo and Jack Reed comes as Senate Banking Chair Tim Scott has told lawmakers to expect committee votes on housing measures this month, sources familiar said.

Wednesday’s proposal would “reduce administrative burdens within the Continuum of Care, Emergency Solutions Grants, and Housing Choice Voucher programs,” according to a summary, “while improving coordination” with the private sector — key tenets of the so-called abundance agenda.

“How can we make them work better?” Smith, who’s worked with Rounds on other bipartisan housing bills, said. “Let’s talk to the agency folks that run these programs and figure out how to actually reform them so that they work better; so they’re more efficient.”