I hear from Iowans who’ve done everything right — they’ve worked hard, earned a degree, learned a trade — but still feel like owning a home is out of reach.
That’s especially true in rural communities where families want to stay and put down roots, but the housing either isn’t there or has gotten too expensive.
The problem: More than 40% of Iowans spend over a third of their income on rent while programs designed to help have fallen behind and become buried in red tape that makes building and buying a home harder, not easier.
The USDA’s Rural Housing Service, meant to support affordable construction, is part of that problem. Projects can take months or years just to get approval, builders are discouraged by conflicting rules and outdated requirements, and programs don’t coordinate, leading to delays and rising costs.
Local leaders and homebuilders all say the same thing: Iowa is ready to build, but federal red tape is in the way. That’s why today, I stood with Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, who drove up from Missouri, and Habitat for Humanity — which is doing outstanding work right here in Iowa — to introduce the Rural Housing Service Reform Act.
Our bipartisan bill is the most significant update to USDA’s housing programs in more than two decades. It would:
✅ Streamline the approval process so projects can finish on time
✅ Cut outdated rules that drive up housing costs in rural Iowa
✅ Improve oversight to ensure taxpayer dollars are spent wisely
✅ Give local leaders more control to shape their community’s future
Bottom Line: We’re working across the aisle to cut red tape and fix broken programs so Iowans can build and buy homes where they have lived for generations.