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Fetterman and McCormick voted for bipartisan housing reform

A bipartisan piece of legislation that aims to address housing needs cruised through both chambers last week with the support of nearly the entire Pennsylvania delegation. On Monday, U.S. Sens. John Fetterman and Dave McCormick said they hoped the bill will become law as President Donald Trump has yet to offer his signature for the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act.

“I am supremely confident that he will sign this thing, without a doubt,” Fetterman told reporters during a joint appearance with McCormick in Philadelphia on Monday morning.

Fetterman, a Democrat who has championed this cause of affordable housing for several years, said he has not had any recent conversations with the White House on the bill, but referenced the bipartisan fashion in which it passed as proof Trump would sign it into law.

On June 22, the U.S. Senate voted 85-5 to pass the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act with the support of Fetterman and McCormick. The following day, the U.S. House voted 358-32 in support of the bill. U.S. Rep. Scott Perry, R-10th District, was the only member of the state’s congressional delegation to vote against the bill.

However, despite signaling support, Trump announced on Wednesday that he was canceling the bill signing ceremony “until such time as we pass the desperately needed SAVE AMERICA ACT, which I consider to be a National Emergency.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson told Fox News on Sunday that he would send the bill to Trump on Monday and that it “will become law.”

McCormick referenced Johnson’s optimism in his answer, adding that he also hopes Trump signs the bill.

“We’ve got to bring down housing prices in Pennsylvania, and he and I are both committed to that,” McCormick said. “And this isn’t the whole thing, but this goes a long way to eliminating red tape and making it easier to invest.”

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Monday afternoon, Trump said he wasn’t sure if he was going to sign the housing legislation into law.

“I think it’s so unimportant compared to the Save America Act,” Trump said.

He noted that the bill is “very bipartisan,” and added that there are things in it that he “wouldn’t necessarily agree to,” though he hasn’t come to a final decision yet.

“Here’s what I would like to sign: much more than a bill, ‘big deal. It’s a yawn,” he said of the housing bill. “Because it’s wonderful to me, compared to the Save America Act, just about everything is a big yawn.”

According to Politico, even if Trump didn’t sign the housing bill into law within the next few days, it would still become law unless he were to veto it. However, Congress also has the power to override a presidential veto.

NPR describes the proposal as the “largest piece of housing legislation in decades.”

Fetterman credited state Sen. Nikil Saval, who authored the Whole-Home Repairs Program for Pennsylvania, which this national legislation is modeled after.

“When we passed the Whole-Home Repairs Program, we hoped it would offer a blueprint for other states grappling with how to preserve their aging housing stock and protect the health of their residents,” Saval wrote in a statement on Wednesday. “Today’s passage of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act shows the realization of this hope.”

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