Senator Young rallies support for new bill tackling affordable housing crisis

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Tuesday afternoon, Senator Todd Young stopped in South Bend to tackle what he calls an affordable housing crisis.

The senator spoke about a new bill at the Center for the Homeless in downtown South Bend.

The senator’s bill is a staple of his ‘Fair Shot’ agenda.

Senator Young hopes that with bipartisan support, this bill will soon become a reality.

The senator says affordable housing is a growing problem for Hoosiers and millions across the country.

“Housing affordability is not a rural issue, it’s not an urban issue,” said Senator Young. “It’s not a red issue or a blue issue.”

Senator Young is working to find a solution.

He wants to create a task force to look at the impact a lack of affordable housing has on things like education and health care.

The task force would then make recommendations to congress.

“I hope that’s a long list of recommendations,” said Senator Young. “Both bold things and minor, technical changes we can make to existing government programs.”

Lani Vivirito of the Center for the Homeless says the senator’s bill is definitely a step in the right direction.

“Anytime that someone is willing to take a look at a system issue that affects this population, I’m excited,” said Vivirto. “My hope is that this task force will be as robust as he described, and that they will be willing to take a look at the hard questions.”

The Task Force on the Impact of the Affordable Housing Crisis Act was introduced in July.

The bill has already gained some bipartisan support.

Senator Young hopes that the bill will go up for a vote before the end of the year.

“And in the end, this is all about making sure the life outcomes of all Americans are improved,” said Senator Young.

Senator Young’s team says this is the first step to try to create more affordable housing.

The senator is still looking for more cosponsors on the bill.