Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) led a group of colleagues on the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee in urging the administration to implement her Better PLAN Act, which Cortez Masto passed in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, to help lower housing costs by expanding affordable housing options near transportation services. These provisions will help the Department of Transportation align investments in new transportation infrastructure with investments in housing, helping to create more affordable housing and make it easier to commute to and from work.
“For years, the United States has suffered from a chronic shortage of housing, driving up rents for everyday families and putting homeownership out of reach for too many Americans,” wrote the senators. “This puts accessible transportation options out of reach for many, locking them out of economic opportunity.”
The senators go on to specifically call on the Department of Transportation (DOT) to coordinate with the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) help local officials improve transportation and housing planning and development.
The full text of the letter is available HERE.
Through her Innovation State Initiative, Senator Cortez Masto has been working to develop innovative transportation solutions for all Nevada communities. Senator Cortez Masto introduced a comprehensive package of bills designed to promote the use of cleaner transportation, create jobs, improve the health and safety of Nevada communities, and reduce gasoline demand. She successfully pushed to include many of these in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Package to help Nevada communities upgrade their roads and bridges, improve transportation planning, expand electric vehicle infrastructure, make traveling to school safer for students, and support smart cities that use technology to solve transportation challenges. Senator Cortez Masto has also been a longtime champion for affordable housing, leading multiple bills to increase federal and private funding for housing. She also successfully passed legislation to ensure that state and local governments consider manufactured housing when prioritizing their housing investments.
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