Build Now Act of 2025
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeMrs. McClain (for herself and Mr. Himes) introduced the following …
Summary
What This Bill Does
The Build Now Act of 2025 uses federal housing grants as leverage to encourage cities and counties to build more housing. It adjusts Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) allocations from the Department of Housing and Urban Development based on whether local jurisdictions are increasing their housing production rates compared to their recent past.
Who Benefits and How
Metropolitan cities and urban counties that accelerate housing production receive bonus CDBG funds, with bonuses calculated proportionally to their existing housing stock. Cities already growing at 4% or more annually automatically qualify for bonuses.
Real estate developers, home builders, and construction workers benefit indirectly as local governments have stronger financial incentives to approve housing projects and reduce zoning restrictions.
Cities with affordable housing (below 60th percentile rents), high vacancy rates, disaster declarations, or no zoning authority are exempt from the program and face no penalty.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Metropolitan cities and urban counties with stagnant or declining housing growth face a 10% reduction in their CDBG allocation. This could reduce funding for community development projects, affordable housing programs, and infrastructure improvements in those areas.
Residents of low-growth jurisdictions may see reduced local services if their city loses federal funding.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development takes on new administrative burdens: publishing annual reports, calculating growth rates using Census data, and notifying all eligible recipients within 60 days of enactment.
Key Provisions
- Bonus/Penalty System: Cities with above-median housing growth improvement get bonus CDBG funds; those below median lose 10% of their allocation
- 3-Year Warning Period: Allocation adjustments do not begin until the third full fiscal year after enactment, giving cities time to adjust policies
- Exemptions: Areas with affordable housing markets, high vacancy rates, recent disasters, or no zoning authority are exempt
- Transparency: HUD must publish annual reports listing each city's growth rate and whether they received bonuses or penalties
- Sunset Provision: The program expires in fiscal year 2043
Evidence Chain:
This summary is derived from the structured analysis below. See "Detailed Analysis" for per-title beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
Primary Purpose
Incentivize local governments to increase housing supply by adjusting Community Development Block Grant allocations based on housing growth improvement rates, rewarding high-growth jurisdictions with bonus funds and penalizing low-growth jurisdictions with reduced allocations.
Policy Domains
Legislative Strategy
"Use federal grant funding as leverage to incentivize local governments to reduce regulatory barriers to housing construction and increase housing supply"
Likely Beneficiaries
- Real estate developers and home builders in jurisdictions with increasing housing growth
- Metropolitan cities and urban counties that increase housing production
- Homebuyers and renters in areas with expanded housing supply
- Construction industry workers
Likely Burden Bearers
- Metropolitan cities and urban counties with stagnant or declining housing growth rates (10% reduction in CDBG funds)
- Local governments that maintain restrictive zoning policies
- Communities that prioritize limiting development over housing growth
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
A metropolitan city or urban county that receives funds under section 106 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974
A covered recipient unless: (1) median Small Area Fair Market Rent is at or below 60th percentile AND median home value is below national median; (2) annual rental vacancy rate exceeds national rate; (3) subject to major disaster/emergency declaration in past year; or (4) lacks legal authority to enact zoning/permitting ordinances
Average annual percentage increase in housing units during the 5-year period from Q3 of 11th preceding fiscal year to Q3 of sixth preceding fiscal year
Average annual percentage increase in housing units in the jurisdiction during the 5-year period from Q3 of sixth preceding fiscal year to Q3 of preceding fiscal year
An eligible recipient with current annual growth rate at or above 4 percent
The quotient of (current growth rate minus prior growth rate) divided by (sum of absolute values of current and prior growth rates) - measures whether housing growth is accelerating or decelerating
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology