Davidson Delivers Remarks at Housing and Insurance Subcommittee Field Hearing
Washington,
February 22, 2024 -
Today, the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance, led by Chairman Warren Davidson (OH-08), is holding a field hearing entitled “Restoring Prosperity in American Communities: Examining the Failures of Status Quo Housing Policy.”
Watch Chairman Davidson’s opening remarks here.
Read Chairman Davidson’s opening remarks as delivered:
“Today’s hearing is about restoring prosperity in American communities by examining the failures of status quo housing policies.
“This is an important topic that we have correctly devoted a lot of attention to in this Congress and, frankly, in previous Congresses.
“Thus far, over the last 12 months, the subcommittee has held six hearings exploring various aspects of how everyday Americans are having their lives impacted by bad government decisions and failed federal policies on housing.
“The result is reduced prosperity, reduced customer choice, and reduced optimism that things are going to get better anytime soon—people aren’t believing that it’s really transitory.
“Making matters worse, as we will hear from testimony today, is the alarming notion that the local input in the process doesn’t even matter or isn’t necessary—in fact, sometimes it's treated as a barrier.
“Instead of working collaboratively with local mayors, supervisors, and other county officials to balance the needs of residents in their communities, all too often bureaucrats, whether in state governments like Albany or in Washington, D.C., want to impose mandates on places like Orangetown, Nyack, New York City, Cincinnati, Middletown, Lincoln, Nebraska.
“Ironically, it’s the local citizens who are forced to implement their overreaching and expensive policies—and to add insult to injury—are also the ones who end up footing the bill.
“And, by the way, these same bureaucrats say that anyone who opposes these ideas isn’t just wrong, they’re meanspirited and selfish people.
“Simply put, the bureaucrats pushing these ideas don’t care what local residents think because they have an agenda and they are seeking to push it, and it’s almost like no matter what, they’re inclined to not listen.
“Today, hopefully, we will give voice to local communities and a more wide-ranging set of views.
“In Congress, every member is dealing with some aspect of affordable housing. Members of our committee are particularly focused on legislation that provides solutions.
“I especially want to thank my colleagues Mike Flood from Nebraska and Mike Lawler, who many of you know locally.
“They have been some of the most committed members on housing policy, hosting roundtables in their districts and advancing legislation to try to address the issues.
“So. for our 7th hearing, we decided to come up to New York to our colleague Rep. Mike Lawler’s district so that we can see firsthand the impact that poorly designed and heavy-handed federal, state, and local housing mandates are having.
“Folks in Rockland find themselves in a situation that has become all too common across the country.
“Housing has already been too expensive, and now inventory is limited.
“Lawmakers' response is to force mandates, which sounds good on paper, but ends up hurting affordability and availability for residents most in need.
“These impacts are real, and I look forward to addressing them with our witnesses today.”
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