The Senate approved this week an amendment to the Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act (H.R. 2577) to curb federal influence on local housing and zoning regulations. It was a problem pointed out by Senator James Lankford’s “Federal Fumbles” report.
A new rule by HUD to increase diversity in neighborhoods and reduce discrimination could have led to major federal oversight of local building regulations. The rule also threatens to withhold funding if the federal rules were not met by the local communities.
Lankford wrote about it in his “Federal Fumbles” report.
“Discrimination in neighborhoods, either in the ownership or rental market, is unacceptable. Under the Fair Housing Act, HUD has authority to address and fight it. HUD should and does use that authority because discrimination based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, or disability is illegal. But new regulations that make a federal housing agency the ultimate arbiter of neighborhood design and tie federal funding to specific plans directly contradict what many communities want for the future. With unique and valuable histories, local communities and states understand the needs of their residents better than the federal government. Sweeping federal regulations inhibit flexibility that states say they need to end housing discrimination.”
