{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.fetterman.senate.gov/at-hearing-fetterman-speaks-to-pas-housing-crisis-how-his-whole-home-repairs-act-will-help-address-it/", "At Hearing, Fetterman Speaks to PA\u2019s Housing Crisis & How His Whole-Home Repairs Act Will Help Address It", "2024-03-12", "2024", "2024-03", "Democrat", "Senate", "PA", "John Fetterman", "F000479", "www.fetterman.senate.gov", "fetterman", "https://www.fetterman.senate.gov/press-release/", "scraper", "Fetterman illustrated the magnitude of PA\u2019s housing crisis with stats out of Centre, Pike, Indiana, Montour, Lehigh, Franklin, Allegheny, and Dauphin Counties\n\nWASHINGTON, DC \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator John Fetterman spoke at the Senate Banking Housing and Urban Development Committee hearing about his recently introduced Whole-Home Repairs Act. The bipartisan bill\u2014which Senator Fetterman introduced last week with Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY)\u2014would create a national five-year pilot program to expand on a wildly successful and popular Pennsylvania program designed to help homeowners with critical home repairs.\n\n\u201cAddressing the housing crisis is a top priority for me, and I\u2019m glad to be here today to discuss possible solutions,\u201d said Senator Fetterman.\u201cI\u2019m proud to introduce with my colleague, the distinguished senator from Wyoming, the very bipartisan Whole-Home Repairs Act.\u201d\n\nWatch Sen. Fetterman\u2019s Remarks Here\n\nIn his remarks during the hearing, Senator Fetterman outlined the housing crisis that Pennsylvania is facing. He spoke to the challenges that communities all across the commonwealth experience:\n\n32% of renters in Centre and Pike Counties are paying more than half their incomes in rent.\n\nRents for the average one- or two-bedroom apartments are up to as much as$1,000 a month in Indiana County, $1,200 per month in Montour County, and $2,000 a month in the Lehigh Valley.\n\nFranklin County is adding 2,000 jobs but isn\u2019t adding enough units that are affordable\n\nIn the Pittsburgh region alone, we are short fifteen thousand units for low-income people.\n\nIn Dauphin County, shelters are at maximum capacity.\n\nSenator Fetterman went on to speak to the value of the existing state program in Pennsylvania and how helpful scaling the program to the national level would be in addressing the housing crisis.\n\nHe spoke about a man named Mr. Tyler in Hawley, PA, who is 87 and has worked as a farmer, mechanic, bartender, and deputy sheriff. Mr. Tyler\u2019s roof collapsed and left a hole in the ceiling. The resulting water leaks and exposure had caused partial rotting of the wall and ceiling. Wayne County Whole-Home Repair funds, facilitated through Pennsylvania\u2019s state-level program, were used to make exterior repairs to the roof, ceiling, and wall, as well as weatherization improvements that have reduced his heating bill by two-thirds. The remaining interior work will be completed this month.\n\nThe federal Whole-Home Repairs Act is a crucial piece of solving the broader housing shortage the country is facing. When families can\u2019t afford repairs, housing units are lost to blight, which further exacerbates the housing crisis. The bill helps address this issue by allowing more families to keep their homes in good condition so they can stay in them. The bill will also create a one-stop shop that will help ensure that money allocated through existing programs is efficiently spent.\n\nIn response to these known problems, a bipartisan group of Pennsylvania lawmakers passed the Whole-Home Repairs program in 2022 to create a one-stop shop to help with repairs, weatherization, and adaptions in homes for older residents or individuals with disabilities. The program allows low- and moderate-income homeowners and small landlords to apply for grants and loans to make needed repairs. The program was both successful and popular and has helped thousands of people address urgent repair needs. An incredible 95% of Pennsylvania counties applied for funding, demonstrating the breadth and enormity of the need.\n\nThe Whole-Home Repairs Act creates a national version of this popular state program.\n\nThe Whole-Home Repairs Act has been endorsed by the Housing Assistance Council, National NeighborWorks Association, LISC, Habitat for Humanity, Council for Affordable and Rural Housing, National Low Income Housing Coalition, National Housing Law Project, People\u2019s Action, National Association of Towns and Townships, Window and Door Manufacturers Association, and Pennsylvania Stands Up.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T17:55:42Z"]], "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.fetterman.senate.gov/at-hearing-fetterman-speaks-to-pas-housing-crisis-how-his-whole-home-repairs-act-will-help-address-it/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.6098530031740665, "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"}