Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Chris Pappas (D-NH)
Today during his opening remarks at a House Veterans’ Affairs Committee Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity oversight hearing, Congressman Chris Pappas (NH-01), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee, underscored the need to take comprehensive action to tackle the housing crisis that is impacting veterans in New Hampshire and across the country.
Pappas began: “We know that housing prices, along with pretty much every other expense a family faces, like energy and groceries, continue to rise. As veterans spend more money at the pump and at the grocery store, they have less to spend on rent, their mortgage, or to save for a down payment. From what I hear constantly from my constituents, and I’m sure this applies to all of my colleagues too, affordability concerns aren’t a hoax—they’re a huge concern of Americans, and I’m thankful that we’re holding this hearing in recognition of that.”
Underscoring the need for comprehensive legislation like the updated 21st Century Road to Housing Act, he continued: “That’s why we need a whole-of-government approach to tackle the housing crisis, lower costs for veterans and all Americans, and put homeownership back within reach for everyone. We should explore comprehensive policies that would provide real savings, tangible affordability, and accessibility to home loans for veterans. We need to focus on legislative packages like the updated, Senate-passed 21st Century Road to Housing Act which House leadership has yet to put to the floor for a vote. This bipartisan bill includes bills I helped introduce and would cut red tape to build more housing, strengthen assistance to middle-class homeowners for improvements and repairs, and expand access to the VA Home Loan program by ensuring veterans are made aware of the benefit during the loan application stage.”
Highlighting examples of successful efforts in New Hampshire, Pappas said: “In my state of New Hampshire, we’re moving in that direction: we have a first-in-the-nation veterans campus in Franklin, which is a partnership between the private sector, government, and the nonprofit community, funded with federal dollars and providing critical housing for our veterans. We’re empowering our non-profit and VSO partners, including Harbor Care, that have stepped up to fill a need for emergency, transitional, and permanent housing for veterans.
“Let’s also focus on what this hearing should be about: affordability, and that big-picture conversation about how to bring down costs and make life better for veterans and all Americans,” he concluded.
Last week Pappas called on House leadership to bring the Senate-passed 21st Century Road to Housing legislative package up for a vote. This bipartisan, bicameral legislation includes several bills Pappas co-leads and supports to increase access to home loans, cut red tape, and lower costs to build housing, including the VA Home Loan Awareness Act to help more veterans take advantage of the VA Home Loan program.
Background:
New Hampshire is on track to be 90,000 units of housing short in the next decade, while the median home sale price in the state has risen to over half a million dollars.
Pappas has worked to ensure Granite State communities have the resources they need to increase the affordable housing stock and tackle the housing crisis. In April, he helped introduce the bipartisan Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act to support affordable housing financing and development by expanding and strengthening the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit. He also co-leads the Supporting Projects to Unleash Residential (SPUR) Housing Act to lower the cost of building new housing developments through a grant program to offset state and local impact fees. In 2024, he and the New Hampshire delegation welcomed more than $30 million in federal grants to build more affordable housing across the Granite State.