The U.S. House of Representatives passed President Joe Biden’s signature Build Back Better plan Friday by a vote of 220-213. The bill now goes to the Senate for consideration.
The roughly $1.75 trillion bill spares real estate investment from the most-feared taxes and includes key NAR priorities like investments in affordable housing and down payment assistance.
“Our advocacy operation is bipartisan and focused on the issues. Our goal was to ensure this legislation includes robust funding for affordable and fair housing and protects real estate investment from misguided and harmful new taxes,” says Shannon McGahn, chief advocacy officer for NAR. ”We are pleased that House lawmakers expanded affordable housing provisions from what was in the original framework, but this bill is far from final. Expectations are the Senate could remove some provisions to lower the price tag. We will continue to work with Congress to ensure the final bill is good for the real estate economy and consumers.”
Lawmakers are using a budget process known as reconciliation, which allows legislation to bypass the Senate filibuster and pass with 51 votes. But the process also limits provisions in the bill to items that change spending or revenues, preventing some policy priorities from being included.