Legislative Agenda

Yes In My Backyard (YIMBY) Act

Bill Name: H.R. 3198 / S. 1614

Congressional sponsors: Senator Brian Emanuel Schatz (D-HI), Representative Derek Kilmer (D-WA), Representative Todd Young (R-NE), and Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR)

Background

  • According to Up for Growth’s Housing Underproduction in the U.S. report, the United States has underproduced housing by 3.9 million homes as of 2023.
  • Exclusionary land use policies — including zoning and density restrictions, onerous parking requirements, and other burdensome development regulations — drive a severe housing shortage and affordability crisis.
  • The Missing Millions of Homes report from the New Dems coalition shows that the cost of shelter has been the single largest increase in household budgets in the last 15 years and that the median U.S. family now spends
    42% of its income on housing.
  • Housing underproduction also increases cost of living for families, inhibits geographic mobility, burdens both renters and buyers, and stifles economic productivity. By one estimate, from 1964-2009, our national housing shortage lowered aggregate economic growth by 36 percent.

Legislative Solution

The Yes in My Backyard (YIMBY) Act encourages localities to eliminate discriminatory land use policies and remove barriers that prevent needed housing from being built around the country. The YIMBY Act achieves these goals by requiring Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) recipients to report periodically on the extent to which they are removing discriminatory land use policies and implementing inclusive and affordable housing policies detailed by the bill. The YIMBY Act increases transparency in land use, zoning, and housing decisions; sheds light on exclusionary polices; and ultimately encourage localities to eliminate barriers to much needed housing.

  • The YIMBY Act increases transparency and encourages more thoughtful and inclusive development practices by requiring localities to fully examine and disclose their housing policy decisions.
  • The bill provides localities a framework for smart policymaking and regulatory practices, thus promoting more inclusive development principles.
  • The YIMBY Act is an important first step in decreasing the barriers to smart, inclusive growth and reducing the negative and cumulative impact of exclusionary housing policies. It is also a way to clearly demonstrate that the federal government takes seriously the challenges created by exclusionary zoning.

Benefits:

  • Requiring federal CDBG grant recipients to report on the extent to which they are eliminating exclusionary policies starts an important conversation that increases transparency in land use and housing policy.
  • The YIMBY Act breaks down barriers to growth and paves the way for increased economic productivity.
  • This important legislation provides a roadmap for communities to improve affordability and equity in housing.

 

 

U.S GDP Growth associated with closing the underproduction gap

 

Endorsers List

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