HYDE-SMITH COSPONSORS BILL TO REPEAL GREEN NEW DEAL MANDATES THAT ADD TO HOME PRICES
Hyde-Smith, Colleagues Move to Strike Biden-era Standards that Can Tag Another $31K to Building Homes
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), chair of the Senate appropriations subcommittee covering federal housing programs, this week cosponsored legislation to eliminate expensive Biden-era Green New Deal housing mandates that make new homes less affordable for buyers.
The HOUSE Act (S.3178) would repeal the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Final Determination on energy efficiency standards for new construction of HUD- and USDA-financed housing. The bill targets 2024 mandates imposed by the Biden administration to force builders to use energy efficiency standards that can add as much as $31,000 to the price of new home.
“There are many factors that make home prices out of reach for too many people in Mississippi and all over the country. Government regulations, no matter how well- or ill-advised, should not be compounding the problem, which is exactly what the Biden mandate is doing,” Senator Hyde-Smith said. “The HOUSE Act is one step Congress can take to tackle out-of-reach home prices.”
“Our nation is facing a housing affordability crisis,” said U.S. Senator John Barrasso M.D. (R-Wyo.), who introduced the bill. “Every day, American families are being priced out of the housing market. The Biden administration’s Green New Deal housing mandates make it even harder for young families to buy their first home. The HOUSE Act repeals these expensive mandates and gives Americans the tools they need to make their dream of owning a home a reality.”
“Home affordability is one of the biggest concerns facing young and middle-class families in this country. First time buyers, young families, rural and lower income buyers are especially hard hit. Their biggest obstacle is saving for a downpayment – yet HUD’s Minimum Efficiency standards will unquestionably increase downpayment requirements. The HOUSE Act will help young families achieve the American dream by protecting the mortgage programs they rely on,” Leading Builders of America CEO Ken Gear said.
In 2024, the Biden administration mandated that all new single-family housing construction financed through federal housing agencies must meet the 2021 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) standards, even after HUD and USDA indicated in 2023 that these standards would lower new construction for Federal Housing Authority (FHA) borrowers.
The revised IECC standards can add as much as $31,000 to the price of a new home, with the energy savings not being realized for 90 years. As such, the net benefit of this rule does not outweigh the significant costs placed on American households. In March 2025, HUD extended the compliance date for FHA-insured Multifamily and Single-Family homes to Nov. 28, 2025, and May 28, 2026, respectively.
S.3178 would:
- Repeal the HUD and USDA Final Determination on energy efficiency standards for new construction of HUD- and USDA-financed housing.
- Require HUD and USDA to revert to the 2009 standards that are already in effect, which will alleviate the added undue pressure on an already constrained housing supply.
- Prohibit the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs from implementing a similar mandate for VA mortgages.
- Clarify that the Federal Housing Finance Agency has no statutory authority to impose similar mandates.
- Reform underlying law by prohibiting HUD and USDA from adopting new efficiency mandates unless at least 26 states have already adopted similar standards.
Additional original cosponsors include U.S. Senators Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), and Todd Young (R-Ind.).
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