Episode 102: Build Housing Affordably Act Targets BABA Reform

A bipartisan House bill — H.R. 9311, the Build Housing Affordably Act — has been introduced by Rep. Mike Flood (R-NE), Chairman of the House Housing and Insurance Subcommittee, and Rep. Maggie Goodlander (D-NH). The legislation targets Build America Buy America Act (BABA) requirements that have created cost and timeline friction for affordable housing developers relying on federal funding streams, including LIHTC deals with federal program exposure. Key Takeaways: H.R. 9311, the Build Housing Affordably Act, was introduced as bipartisan legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives. Lead sponsors are Rep. Mike Flood (R-NE), Housing and Insurance Subcommittee Chairman, and Rep. Maggie Goodlander (D-NH) — a pairing designed to attract votes from both sides of the aisle. The bill directly addresses BABA domestic content procurement requirements that have added cost drag and schedule risk to affordable housing deals with federal funding exposure. The stated goal is to "strike a better balance" between promoting domestic production and sustaining the affordable housing development pipeline — framed as a housing production argument, not a deregulatory one. BABA compliance friction has hit deals involving HUD programs and certain bond-financed structures particularly hard, where domestic supplier availability and pricing have not kept pace with project needs. Flood's subcommittee chairmanship gives the bill a credible path to markup — making this more than a messaging exercise. Developers with projects in predevelopment that rely on federal funding should model both current BABA compliance costs and potential relief scenarios as the bill advances. BABA has been a quiet deal-killer and cost inflator across the affordable housing pipeline since its requirements expanded under the infrastructure law. This bill represents the first serious, bipartisan legislative vehicle aimed at resolving that tension. Developers, syndicators, and lenders should monitor committee activity closely and engage their federal advocacy channels now — the window for industry input on bill language is typically widest before markup. A Senate companion bill, if introduced, would signal genuine momentum toward enactment. Subscribe to The Spring Street Brief for daily updates on affordable housing in America.