WASHINGTON — Building on the legislative momentum that helped secure the passage of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing law, the bipartisan Build America Caucus has officially released a sweeping new policy package aimed at tackling structural roadblocks in the American housing market. Announced in early October following a formal press release, the newly introduced "Build More Agenda" comprises more than 60 distinct policy proposals targeting housing development, financing challenges, restrictive municipal zoning, complex building codes, and the modernization of federal housing bureaucracy.
Founded in 2025, the Build America Caucus was established with a singular overarching mission: to advance federal pro-growth policies and simplify the development process across the United States. The caucus is co-led by Representatives Josh Harder, a Democrat from California, and Celeste Maloy, a Republican from Utah. According to the group’s leadership, the initiative represents a direct response to the legislative and bureaucratic dysfunction that has historically hindered the construction of vital infrastructure and housing integral to American daily life.
For the lawmakers spearheading the effort, the Build More Agenda is designed to look beyond immediate legislative victories and establish a forward-looking roadmap for future congressional sessions. In an interview with industry publication Multifamily Dive, Rep. Harder explained that the primary objective of these new proposals is to spark a national dialogue regarding what legislative steps should follow the implementation of the ROAD to Housing law.
"We don’t want to rest on our laurels, and we’ve proven that there’s a bipartisan coalition of folks that want to do more pro-housing legislation," Harder said. "This is a set of ideas that get people excited and thinking about what can come next, and our hope is to flesh it out over the next couple of months and work on it next Congress."
While pushing for the effective implementation of the ROAD to Housing law remains a top priority, caucus members recognized that the previous legislation left several critical areas unaddressed. Specifically, the new agenda zeroes in on complex development financing, restrictive local zoning ordinances, fragmented building codes, and the pressing need to streamline cumbersome federal housing systems. Harder noted that housing finance emerged as a central pillar of the new agenda precisely because the earlier bill did not comprehensively address funding mechanisms.
The timing of the initiative aligns with mounting economic pressures facing real estate developers and prospective homeowners alike. As persistent inflation has driven interest rates higher over recent years, real estate professionals have found it increasingly difficult to advance projects without reliable, accessible, and affordable capital.
"We know that as interest rates have continued to go up, that projects can’t move forward without reliable and affordable financing," Harder said. "It’s very clear that high interest rates are hurting housing starts, and I think we have a real opportunity to fix that."
To directly counter these financing headwinds, the caucus is championing the creation of a federal revolving loan fund dedicated specifically to residential housing. Harder expressed confidence that such a mechanism could be established at virtually zero net cost to the federal government. Under this proposed framework, the federal government would inject initial capital to provide below-market-rate loans for housing construction. As those loans are repaid by developers, the capital would return to the fund to finance subsequent projects, creating a continuous, self-sustaining financial vehicle to fill critical construction funding gaps.
In addition to addressing capital availability, the Build More Agenda aims to accelerate the pace of multifamily lending by overhauling outdated systems and underwriting protocols within the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Of particular concern to the caucus is the Federal Housing Administration’s financing process, particularly for infill housing developments that utilize previously vacant or underutilized land within established urban areas.
According to Harder, bureaucratic delays within the FHA can create severe financial bottlenecks for developers striving to meet urban housing demand. While conventional financing processes might take a matter of months to reach a closing, FHA-backed loans frequently face delays stretching up to a full year.
"Those FHA loans can take a year to close, as opposed to two or three months for conventional financing," Harder noted. "HUD takes a long time to move this process; they have outdated technology, and so one of the things we’re working on is trying to fix the FHA process."
More housing construction ahead?
Beyond financial and bureaucratic hurdles, the Build More Agenda takes direct aim at the rising costs of construction, which Harder described as having "gone up and up and up." Because building projects have grown increasingly expensive across the board, the caucus is placing heavy emphasis on policies designed to reduce upfront development costs and make it economically viable for developers to move forward with new projects.
Among the most ambitious measures included in the package is the creation of "right to build zones" tailored for multifamily housing. Under this proposal, local and state jurisdictions that voluntarily opt into the program would receive enhanced federal support and incentives. In exchange, these communities would agree to reform their local zoning codes to permit multifamily housing construction by-right, provided that individual development projects meet predefined community criteria.
If successfully enacted into law, Harder believes this measure could fundamentally transform the residential landscape by dramatically accelerating the pace of housing construction nationwide. By rewarding proactive municipalities, the proposal seeks to harness competitive federalism to encourage local zoning reform.
"I think you can create a race-to-the-top type of incentive with that," Harder said.
In a similar vein, the caucus is targeting transit-oriented development to ensure that taxpayer investments in public transportation are fully maximized. The policy framework asserts that local governments should not erect regulatory barriers that prevent individuals from living near publicly funded train stations, light rail networks, and major bus corridors. Restrictive local zoning often limits both the density and type of housing permitted near transit hubs, ultimately preventing communities from achieving ridership levels that justify the initial infrastructure investment.
"Why should the federal government be spending billions of dollars building a new highway, a new bridge, a new transit line when the communities that are located around that don’t want to build the housing? That doesn’t make any sense," Harder observed.
Another major administrative hurdle highlighted by the caucus involves the complex and frequently contradictory network of building codes across the nation. Although model national building codes are updated on a three-year cycle, many local municipalities lack the administrative bandwidth and financial resources to regularly review and adopt these modern standards. Consequently, builders face a fragmented patchwork of local regulations that vary widely from one jurisdiction to the next. According to the caucus, this regulatory fragmentation significantly increases overall development costs by obstructing the ability of builders to scale operations efficiently.
Harder emphasized that standardizing these codes would yield particularly substantial benefits for apartment construction, noting that building regulations governing multifamily properties tend to be vastly more intricate and difficult to navigate than those for single-family homes.
The broad-ranging policy package also incorporates targeted tax relief designed to encourage residential construction, provisions permitting the development of housing on underutilized government-owned property, and targeted reforms to Buy America regulations, which mandate that federally funded projects utilize domestically produced building materials.
Furthermore, the agenda addresses niche logistical barriers that collectively impose heavy burdens on regional developers. One specific proposal seeks to streamline the complex web of regulations governing the interstate transportation of mass timber, an increasingly popular structural material utilized in modern multifamily apartment construction. While seemingly administrative in nature, navigating the contradictory rules across state lines poses a significant logistical challenge for developers utilizing sustainable wood products.
"That may sound niche, but it’s a big deal when you’re moving timber from one state to another, and there’s just a real hodgepodge of rules around that," Harder explained.
While housing development and financing form the core of the newly released platform, the Build More Agenda extends its policy scope into several other critical domestic areas. The expansive package also addresses broader national topics, including healthcare infrastructure, general public transportation, electrical power generation, scientific research investments, childcare accessibility, and overall governmental administrative capacity.
