H.R. 6228

119 HR 6228 IH: Unlocking Affordable Housing Act
 U.S. House of Representatives
 2025-11-20
 text/xml
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 I  119th CONGRESS  1st Session  H. R. 6228  IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES   November 20, 2025   Ms. Scholten  (for herself,  Mr. Bresnahan , and  Ms. McBride ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the  Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure    A BILL
To amend titles 23 and 49, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Transportation to establish creditworthiness standards for residential and mix-use development projects to be eligible for TIFIA funds and RRIF funds, and for other purposes.
1.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the   Unlocking Affordable Housing Act  .
2.
Creditworthiness of residential and mixed-use development activities for purposes of eligibility for TIFIA and RRIF funds
(a)
TIFIA creditworthiness of residential and mixed-Use development activities
(1)
In general
Section 602(a)(2) of title 23, United States Code, is amended—
(A)
in subparagraph (A) by striking  To be eligible  and inserting  Except as provided in subparagraph (C), to be eligible ;
(B)
in subparagraph (B), by striking  Notwithstanding subparagraph (A)  and inserting  Except as provided in subparagraph (C), notwithstanding subparagraph (A) ; and
(C)
by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
(C)
Residential development activities
To be eligible for assistance under the TIFIA program, a project described in section 601(a)(12)(E) that includes residential development activities (which may include mixed-use development activities) shall satisfy such creditworthiness standards as the Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, determines to be appropriate to—
(i)
safeguard the financial stability of the TIFIA program; and
(ii)
align, to the extent practicable, such creditworthiness standards with any similar requirements established by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development with respect to eligibility for assistance for such activities under programs of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
  .
(2)
Conforming amendments
(A)
TIFIA Definitions
Section 601(a) of title 23, United States Code, is amended—
(i)
in paragraph (6)(D) by striking  TIFIA program  and inserting  TIFIA program applicable to the project ;
(ii)
in paragraph (10)(D) by striking  agreement, including  and inserting  agreement, including, if applicable ; and
(iii)
in paragraph (12)(E)(ii) by striking  , by not later than September 30, 2026, .
(B)
Rating letter requirements
(i)
In general
Section 602(b)(3) of title 23, United States Code, is amended by striking  each project applicant  and inserting  each applicant for TIFIA assistance for a project for which an investment-grade rating is required under subsection (a)(2) .
(ii)
Secured loans requirements
Section 603(a)(3) of title 23, United States Code, is amended by striking  each rating letter  and inserting  any rating letters .
(iii)
Lines of credit requirements
Section 604(a) of title 23, United States Code, is amended—
(I)
in paragraph (3)—
(aa)
by striking  section 602(b)(3)  and inserting  section 602(b)(3), if any ; and
(bb)
by striking  the rating opinion letter  and inserting  any such rating opinion letters ; and
(II)
in paragraph (4) to read as follows:
(4)
Creditworthiness of senior obligations
(A)
Investment-grade rating requirement
Except as provided in subparagraph (B), the funding of a line of credit under this section shall be contingent on the senior obligations of the project receiving an investment-grade rating from 2 rating agencies.
(B)
Requirements for residential development activities
The funding of a line of credit under this section for a project described in section 601(a)(12)(E) that includes residential development activities (which may include mixed-use development activities) shall be contingent on such evidence of creditworthiness of the senior obligations of the project as the Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, determines appropriate to—
(i)
safeguard the financial stability of the TIFIA program; and
(ii)
align, to the extent practicable, requirements relating to such evidence of creditworthiness with any similar requirements established by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development with respect to assistance for such activities under programs of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
  .
(b)
RRIF Creditworthiness of residential and mixed-Use development activities
Section 22402(f)(3) of title 49, United States Code, is amended—
(1)
in subparagraph (C) by striking  guarantee is greater  and inserting  guarantee for any project other than a project described in subsection (b)(1)(F) that includes residential development (which may include mixed-use development) is greater ; and
(2)
by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
(E)
With respect to any project described in subsection (b)(1)(F) that includes residential development (which may include mixed-use development), such evidence of creditworthiness as the Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, determines to be appropriate—
(i)
to align, to the extent practicable, such creditworthiness standards with any similar requirements established by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development with respect to eligibility for assistance for such activities under programs of the Department of Housing and Urban Development; and
(ii)
to safeguard the financial stability of the program under this chapter.
  .
(c)
Regulations
Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary of Transportation, in consultation with the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, shall prescribe regulations to carry out—
(1)
sections 602(a)(2)(C) and 604(a)(4)(B) of title 23, United States Code, as added by this section; and
(2)
section 22402(f)(3)(E) of title 49, United States Code, as added by this section.
(d)
Effective date; applicability
The amendments made by subsections (a) and (b) shall take effect on the date that is 180 days after the date of enactment of this section and shall apply with respect to any loan or line of credit issued under the TIFIA program or  chapter 224  of title 49, United States Code, on or after such date.
(e)
TIFIA program defined
The term  TIFIA program  shall have the meaning given such term in section 601(a) of title 23, United States Code.