II
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION S. 1299
To direct the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, acting through
the Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research, to publish
guidelines and best practices for State zoning and local zoning frame-
works, and for other purposes.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
APRIL3, 2025
Ms. B
LUNTROCHESTER(for herself, Mr. CRAPO, Mr. FETTERMAN, and Mr.
T
ILLIS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred
to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
A BILL
To direct the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development,
acting through the Assistant Secretary for Policy Devel-
opment and Research, to publish guidelines and best
practices for State zoning and local zoning frameworks,
and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Housing Supply 4
Frameworks Act’’. 5
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6
Congress finds the following: 7
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(1) As of 2022 in the United States, there was 1
an estimated housing shortage of 3,850,000 homes. 2
This housing supply shortage has resulted in a 3
record number of cost-burdened households across 4
regions and spanning the large and small cities, 5
towns, and coastal and rural communities of the 6
United States. 7
(2) Several factors contribute to the under-8
supply of housing in the United States, particularly 9
workforce housing, including rising costs of con-10
struction, a shortage of labor, supply chain disrup-11
tions, and a lack of reliable funding sources. 12
(3) Regulatory barriers at the State and local 13
levels, such as zoning and land use regulations, also 14
inhibit the creation of new housing to meet local and 15
regional housing needs. 16
(4) State and local governments are proactively 17
exploring solutions for reforming regulatory barriers, 18
but additional resources, data, and models can help 19
adequately address these challenges. 20
(5) While land use regulation is the responsi-21
bility of State and local governments, there is Fed-22
eral support for necessary reforms, and there is an 23
opportunity for the Federal Government to provide 24
support and assistance to State and local govern-25
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ments that wish to undertake necessary reforms in 1
a manner that fits their communities’ needs. 2
(6) Therefore, zoning ordinances or systems of 3
land use regulation that have the intent or effect of 4
restricting housing opportunities based on economic 5
status or income without interests that are substan-6
tial, legitimate, nondiscriminatory and that outweigh 7
the regional need for housing are contrary to the re-8
gional and national interest. 9
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 10
In this Act: 11
(1) A
FFORDABLE HOUSING .—The term ‘‘afford-12
able housing’’ means housing for which the monthly 13
payment is not more than 30 percent of the monthly 14
income of the household. 15
(2) A
SSISTANT SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Assist-16
ant Secretary’’ means the Assistant Secretary for 17
Policy Development and Research of the Depart-18
ment of Housing and Urban Development. 19
(3) L
OCAL ZONING FRAMEWORK .—The term 20
‘‘local zoning framework’’ means the local zoning 21
codes and other ordinances, procedures, and policies 22
governing zoning and land-use at the local level. 23
(4) S
ECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 24
the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. 25
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(5) STATE ZONING FRAMEWORK .—The term 1
‘‘State zoning framework’’ means the State legisla-2
tion or State agency and department procedures, or 3
such legislation or procedures in an insular area of 4
the United States, enabling local planning and zon-5
ing authorities and establishing and guiding related 6
policies and programs. 7
SEC. 4. GUIDELINES ON STATE AND LOCAL ZONING FRAME-8
WORKS. 9
(a) E
STABLISHMENT.—Not later than 3 years after 10
the date of enactment of this section, the Assistant Sec-11
retary shall publish documents outlining guidelines and 12
best practices to support production of adequate housing 13
to meet the needs of communities and provide housing op-14
portunities for individuals at every income level across 15
communities with respect to— 16
(1) State zoning frameworks; and 17
(2) local zoning frameworks. 18
(b) C
ONSULTATION; PUBLICCOMMENT.—During the 19
2 year period beginning on the date of enactment of this 20
Act, in developing the guidelines and best practices re-21
quired under subsection (a), the Assistant Secretary 22
shall— 23
(1) publish draft guidelines in the Federal Reg-24
ister for public comment; and 25
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(2) establish a task force for the purpose of 1
providing consultation to draft guidelines published 2
under paragraph (1), the members of which shall in-3
clude— 4
(A) planners and architects; 5
(B) advocates with experience in affordable 6
housing, community development efforts, and 7
fair housing; 8
(C) housing developers, including afford-9
able and market-rate housing developers, manu-10
factured housing developers, and other business 11
interests; 12
(D) community engagement experts and 13
community members impacted by zoning deci-14
sions; 15
(E) public housing authorities and transit 16
authorities; 17
(F) members of local zoning and planning 18
boards and local and regional transportation 19
planning organizations; 20
(G) State officials responsible for housing 21
or land use, including members of State zoning 22
boards of appeals; 23
(H) academic researchers; and 24
(I) home builders. 25
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(c) CONTENTS.—The guidelines and best practices 1
required under subsection (a) shall— 2
(1) with respect to State zoning frameworks, 3
outline potential models for updated State enabling 4
legislation or State agency and department proce-5
dures; 6
(2) include recommendations regarding— 7
(A) the reduction or elimination of parking 8
minimums; 9
(B) the increase in maximum floor area 10
ratio requirements and maximum building 11
heights and the reduction in minimum lot sizes 12
and set-back requirements; 13
(C) the elimination of restrictions against 14
accessory dwelling units; 15
(D) increasing by-right uses, including du-16
plex, triplex, or quadplex buildings, across cities 17
or metropolitan areas; 18
(E) mechanisms, including proximity to 19
transit, to determine the appropriate scope for 20
rezoning and ensure development that does not 21
disproportionately burden residents of economi-22
cally distressed areas; 23
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(F) provisions regarding review of by-right 1
development proposals to streamline review and 2
reduce uncertainty, including— 3
(i) nondiscretionary, ministerial re-4
view; and 5
(ii) entitlement and design review 6
processes; 7
(G) the reduction of obstacles to a range 8
of housing types at all levels of affordability, in-9
cluding manufactured and modular housing; 10
(H) State model zoning regulations for di-11
recting local reforms, including mechanisms to 12
encourage adoption; 13
(I) provisions to encourage transit-oriented 14
development, including increased permissible 15
units per structure and reduced minimum lot 16
sizes near existing or planned public transit sta-17
tions; 18
(J) potential reforms to the public engage-19
ment process, including— 20
(i) meaningful access for persons with 21
limited English proficiency and effective 22
communication improvements for persons 23
with disabilities; 24
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(ii) leveraging of virtual meeting tech-1
nologies; and 2
(iii) proactive outreach in commu-3
nities; 4
(K) reforms to protest petition statutes; 5
(L) the standardization, reduction, or 6
elimination of impact fees; 7
(M) cost effective and appropriate building 8
codes; 9
(N) models for community benefit agree-10
ments; 11
(O) mechanisms to preserve affordability, 12
limit disruption of low-income communities, and 13
prevent displacement of existing residents; 14
(P) with respect to State zoning frame-15
works— 16
(i) State model codes for directing 17
local reforms, including mechanisms to en-18
courage adoption; 19
(ii) a model for a State zoning appeals 20
process, which would— 21
(I) create a process for devel-22
opers or builders requesting a vari-23
ance, conditional use, special permit, 24
zoning district change, similar discre-25
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tionary permit, or otherwise peti-1
tioning a local zoning or planning 2
board for a project including a State- 3
defined amount of affordable housing 4
to appeal a rejection to a State body 5
or regional body empowered by the 6
State; 7
(II) establish qualifications for 8
communities to be exempted from the 9
appeals process based on their avail-10
able stock of affordable housing; and 11
(III) establish a State zoning ap-12
peals board to consider appeals to a 13
discretionary permit rejection and ob-14
jectively evaluate petitions based on 15
the potential for environmental dam-16
age and infrastructural capacity; and 17
(iii) best practices on the disposition 18
of land owned by State governments for af-19
fordable housing development; 20
(Q) with respect to local zoning frame-21
works— 22
(i) the simplification and standardiza-23
tion of existing zoning codes; 24
(ii) maximum review timelines; 25
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(iii) best practices for the disposition 1
of land owned by local governments for af-2
fordable housing development; and 3
(iv) differentiations between best prac-4
tices for rural, suburban, and urban com-5
munities, and communities with different 6
levels of density or population distribution; 7
and 8
(R) other land use measures that promote 9
access to new housing opportunities identified 10
by the Secretary; and 11
(3) consider— 12
(A) consistency with respect to fair hous-13
ing and civil rights requirements; 14
(B) the effects of adopting any rec-15
ommendation on eligibility for Federal discre-16
tionary grants provided by the Department of 17
Housing and Urban Development, the Depart-18
ment of Transportation, and the Department of 19
Agriculture, and tax credits for the purpose of 20
housing or community development; 21
(C) coordination between infrastructure in-22
vestments and housing planning; 23
(D) local housing needs, including ways to 24
set and measure housing goals and targets; 25
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(E) a range of affordability for rental 1
units, with a prioritization of units attainable to 2
extremely low-income, low-income, and mod-3
erate-income residents; 4
(F) a range of affordability for homeown-5
ership units attainable to low-income and mod-6
erate-income residents; 7
(G) accountability measures; 8
(H) the long-term cost to residents and 9
businesses if more housing is not constructed; 10
(I) barriers to individuals seeking to access 11
affordable housing in growing communities and 12
communities with economic opportunity; 13
(J) with respect to State zoning frame-14
works— 15
(i) distinctions between States pro-16
viding constitutional or statutory home 17
rule authority to municipalities and States 18
operating under the Dillon Rule, as articu-19
lated in Hunter v. Pittsburgh, 207 U.S. 20
161 (1907); 21
(ii) statewide mechanisms to preserve 22
existing affordability over the long term, 23
including support for land banks and com-24
munity land trusts; and 25
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(iii) guidance to States on collecting 1
and maintaining proactive data on the cur-2
rent rental housing market and rental reg-3
istries; 4
(K) public comments described in sub-5
section (b)(1); and 6
(L) other considerations, as identified by 7
the Secretary. 8
SEC. 5. REPORTING. 9
Not later than 5 years after the date on which the 10
Assistant Secretary publishes the guidelines and best prac-11
tices for State and local zoning frameworks, the Assistant 12
Secretary shall submit to Congress a report describing— 13
(1) the States that have adopted recommenda-14
tions from the guidelines and best practices, pursu-15
ant to section 4 of this Act; 16
(2) a summary of the localities that have adopt-17
ed recommendations from the guidelines and best 18
practices, pursuant to Section 4 of this Act; 19
(3) a list of States that adopted a State zoning 20
framework; 21
(4) a summary of the modifications that each 22
State has made in their State zoning framework; 23
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(5) a general summary of the types of updates 1
localities have made to their local zoning framework; 2
and 3
(6) of the States that have adopted a State zon-4
ing framework or recommendations from the guide-5
lines and best practices, the effect of such adoptions 6
on the number of building permits issued. 7
SEC. 6. ABOLISHMENT OF REGULATORY BARRIERS CLEAR-8
INGHOUSE. 9
(a) I
NGENERAL.—The Regulatory Barriers Clear-10
inghouse established pursuant to section 1205 of the 11
Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 (42 12
U.S.C. 12705d) is abolished. 13
(b) R
EPEAL.—Section 1205 of the Housing and 14
Community Development Act of 1992 (42 U.S.C. 12705d) 15
is repealed. 16
SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 17
There is authorized to be appropriated to the Sec-18
retary to carry out this Act $3,000,000 for each of fiscal 19
years 2026 through 2030. 20
Æ
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