Washington, D.C. – Representative Paul Gosar, DDS (AZ-09) issued the following statement after reintroducing legislation terminating the Biden-era 2021 Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) rule:

“Overreaching housing regulations first imposed by Barack Obama and re-upped by Joe Biden have extorted communities into giving up control of local zoning decisions while driving up the cost of affordable housing.

By rejecting this intrusive Washington, D.C. mandate, my legislation codifies into law the recent decision by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to repeal the onerous Obama-Biden rules that have punished neighborhoods for refusing to fall in line with big government’s takeover of our communities.

Housing decisions are best made at the local level, not be some woke bureaucrat in Washington, D.C. that couldn’t find Lake Havasu City, Arizona on a map if they tried,” stated Congressman Gosar.

Background:

The Fair Housing Act (FHA) was passed as part of the Civil Rights Act of 1968. The law prohibits housing discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, disability, familial status or national origin. It also requires federal agencies and recipients of federal housing funds to affirmatively further fair housing.

In 2015, the Obama administration introduced the AFFH rule, which expanded the role of the federal government in local zoning decisions by increasing the certification process. It mandated the completion of complex jurisdictional and regional analysis, submission of a 92-question grading tool, and an analysis of impediments.

On June 9, 2015, the House of Representatives passed Congressman Gosar’s amendment to defund the AFFH regulation by a vote of 229-193.

In 2020, the first Trump administration terminated the Obama-era 2015 AFFH rule, which “proved to be costly, complicated, and ineffective.” In 2021, the Biden administration restored the main provisions of the 2015 AFFH rule.