Bipartisan plan aims to make the American Dream affordable again for millions of first-time homebuyers

By Fox News · Fox News

A bipartisan pair of lawmakers is working on making housing costs cheaper for middle and lower-income Americans across the country. House Main Street Caucus Chairman Mike Flood, R-Neb., is teaming up with Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, R-Mo., on legislation they hope will finally give millions of home buyers some relief, as the dream of ownership remains a distant goal for many. It would do so by targeting the federal government's HOME Investments Partnership Program, which provides grants to state and local jurisdictions to build affordable housing. That program, Flood said, has not been significantly amended since the early 1990s. TRUMP'S RUMORED HOUSING EMERGENCY WOULD BE A 'GAME-CHANGER,' KEY GOP LAWMAKER SAYS "Traditionally, the program that we're remodeling… has favored multifamily. But an apartment is not the American Dream. The American Dream is a single-family home," he said. "And with these changes to the program, it's my hope that these dollars will leverage the building of new homes, it will leverage the rehab of dilapidated structures, including homes, and it will make some multifamily opportunities even more attractive." Asked how it would help a young couple buy their first home in his own home state, for example, Flood pointed out that "increased demand" for housing developers to meet strict existing codes for sewer systems, paved streets, and stormwater systems has resulted in housing lot prices rising dramatically — particularly with recent years' high inflation. LIZ PEEK: WHY EVERY 'AFFORDABLE' PROMISE FROM DEMOCRATS ENDS UP COSTING YOU MORE Shifting those costs to the state and local governments, he said, would help lower those costs. "The cost of a lot, before you even buy the ground, there's already $25,000 in there. If the city of Columbus, Nebraska, gets $2.5 million from the Home Partnership program, the city can go in and expand stormwater and sewer and maybe even pavement and streets," he explained. "And suddenly, instead of being a $50,000 lot, i…