{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.boozman.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=4E407E7B-4DA2-4C1D-A656-D59A13FA3577", "Boozman, Moran, Lankford, Blackburn, Cramer & Braun Urge VA to Protect VA Home Loans from Costly Energy Conservation Standards", "2024-07-17", "2024", "2024-07", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "John Boozman", "B001236", "www.boozman.senate.gov", "boozman", "https://www.boozman.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON \u2013\u2013 U.S. Senator John Boozman (R-AR), a senior member of the Senate Veterans\u2019 Affairs Committee, joined Ranking Member Jerry Moran (R-KS) and Senators James Lankford (R-OK), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Kevin Cramer (R-ND) and Mike Braun (R-IN) to raise concerns to Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Denis McDonough about how recently adopted Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and Department of Agriculture (USDA) energy conservation policies could impact the cost of VA home loans for veterans.\n\nOn April 26, HUD and USDA announced they would be implementing the 2021 version of the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) as the minimum energy efficiency standards for the financing of new single and multifamily homes.\n\n\u201cIf adopted by the Department of Veterans Affairs, we are concerned that the revised standards could negatively affect the availability, affordability, and competitiveness of VA home loans for veterans,\u201d wrote the senators. \u201cDeclining to finance any loans for new homes that do not meet these increased requirements, the agencies put accessible homeownership in jeopardy for thousands of veterans. Both rental and housing costs have risen at the fastest rates in decades, and any proposals that raise the cost of home building must be meticulously examined.\u201d\n\n\u201cNAHB commends Sen. Moran for urging the VA Secretary to produce the department\u2019s own analysis on how the 2021 IECC would affect housing affordability and the ability of veterans to obtain VA home loans,\u201d said National Association of Home Builders Chairman Carl Harris. \u201cStudies have shown that requiring new construction to adopt to the 2021 IECC can add as much as $31,000 to the price of a new home and that it would require up to 90 years for a home buyer to realize a payback on the added upfront cost of the home. Sen. Moran and the nation\u2019s home builders are concerned that if VA were to adopt the 2021 IECC, it would prevent many of our nation\u2019s veterans from purchasing a new home using a VA home loan.\u201d\n\nThe full text of the letter can be found below.\n\nDear Secretary McDonough,\n\nWe write to raise significant concerns about the Department of Housing and Urban Development\u2019s (HUD) and Department of Agriculture\u2019s (USDA) recently adopted revised energy standards for newly constructed homes insured or guaranteed by their respective Departments.\n\nWe are particularly concerned with the impact of the agencies\u2019 final determination, implementing the 2021 version of the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC), on veteran homebuyers. By only financing new homes if they are built to the 2021 IECC standards, HUD and USDA describe the potential for a market where \u201cnew construction for Federal Housing Administration borrowers would decline.\u201d If adopted by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), we are concerned that the revised standards could negatively affect the availability, affordability, and competitiveness of VA home loans for veterans.\n\nRecent estimates indicate that even a one thousand dollar increase in home prices would price over one hundred thousand Americans out of the housing market. As mortgage rates hover around seven percent, the revised standards could lead prospective homeowners to pay tens of thousands of dollars more over the course of a 30-year mortgage. Included in the Regulatory Impact Analysis, HUD and USDA rightly recognize that \u201clower-income households are less willing than higher-income ones to accept longer payback periods for energy-efficient investments.\u201d Declining to finance any loans for new homes that do not meet these increased requirements, the agencies put accessible homeownership in jeopardy for thousands of veterans.\n\nBoth rental and housing costs have risen at the fastest rates in decades, and any proposals that raise the cost of home building must be meticulously examined. Additionally, it is our duty to ensure that veterans have robust access to VA-financed home loans. In turn, we respectfully call your attention to a directive included in the Senate\u2019s Fiscal Year 2025 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Committee Report on the revised energy standards and look forward to VA\u2019s evaluation of how adoption would impact costs for veteran homebuyers, including the availability, affordability, and competitiveness of VA home loans.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:32:29Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.boozman.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=4E407E7B-4DA2-4C1D-A656-D59A13FA3577"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.7981989551335573, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}