HYDE-SMITH ENCOURAGES HUD TO USE MORE MASS TIMBER TO ACCELERATE AFFORDABLE HOUSING CONSTRUCTION
Hyde-Smith Chairs Appropriations Hearing to Assess FY2027 HUD Budget Request
VIDEO: Subcommittee Chair Hyde-Smith Discusses Affordable Housing, Opportunity Zones, Foster Care Housing with HUD Secretary Scott Turner.
VIDEO: Subcommittee Chair Hyde-Smith’s Review of the FY2027 HUD Budget Request.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) encouraged the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to tackle the nation’s housing affordability crisis by helping make mass timber a more mainstream building material.
Mass timber usage was one issue discussed at a Senate Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) Appropriations Subcommittee hearing chaired by Hyde-Smith to review the FY2027 HUD budget request.
In her opening statement, Hyde-Smith also addressed the overall HUD budget proposal and expressed her concerns with the administration’s proposal to eliminate programs such as the Community Development Block Grant, HOME, and other initiatives.
“I understand and share the administration's concern about rising costs across government spending. Funding decisions should be guided by both fiscal responsibility and careful thought and deliberation within the constraints placed on us,” Hyde-Smith said. The committee stands ready to work with the department to identify a path forward to improve program efficiency and effectiveness.”
Hyde-Smith sought HUD Secretary Scott Turner’s commitment to engage with the U.S. Forest Service, state forest commissions, research universities, and builders to incorporate mass timber in home construction as one means to tackle housing affordability.
“Tackling housing affordability successfully requires producing more housing, which in turn involves a combination of local zoning decisions as well as scaling up the use of non-traditional building materials, especially when it comes to the use of mass timber. Mass timber multifamily housing is demonstrating an ability to lower construction costs and reduce the time it takes to build, which makes it an ideal approach for helping increase affordable housing production,” Hyde-Smith said. “However, I’m concerned that most of the thinking around mass timber is happening as a resource management issue at the USDA Forest Service and that we are missing an opportunity on the housing side to promote and incorporate the actual use of mass timber.”
“As you know, I’m familiar with the mass timber and CLT product. Working with the Secretary of Agriculture and Forest Service and your office, we’re more willing to do so to make sure the use of this mass timber which is a great product that I’m familiar with,” Scott said.
As an appropriator, Hyde-Smith has supported funding for the Mississippi State University (MSU) Forest Products Laboratory to optimize biomass commercialization, including lumber standards, mass timber construction, and durability. MSU, with the Mississippi Forestry Association, have partnered to advance sustainable mass timber design and advanced timber construction.
In 2025, forest-related economic activity in Mississippi generated more than $4.42 billion in income, generating more than 80,000 jobs.
The HUD budget review hearing is a precursor to the Senate THUD Appropriations Committee developing a bill to fund the agency for the next fiscal year, which begins October 1.
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