Central South Dakota News

U.S. Senator Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) has advanced several housing initiatives for South Dakota in the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee. During a bipartisan markup, Rounds secured the inclusion of four of his bills into the Road to Housing Act, which represents the first significant update to the Rural Housing Service in over ten years.

“Access to safe affordable housing is critical to the strength and future of our communities. I’m proud that my legislation became key provisions in this bill, including modernizing rural housing programs, cutting burdensome regulations and giving local communities more tools to address homelessness and housing shortages,” said Rounds. “These are real wins for South Dakota. President Trump and Secretary Scott Turner have made it clear that increasing our housing supply is a national priority and this legislation moves us in the right direction.”

Rounds’ legislative measures included in the act are:

- The Rural Housing Service Reform Act, which aims to modernize U.S. Department of Agriculture rural housing programs by addressing issues with Section 515 properties, aligning income calculations with HUD standards, streamlining foreclosure and loan approval processes, investing in IT upgrades for efficiency, easing access to home repair loans, and expanding eligibility for USDA loan guarantees.

- The Unlocking Housing Supply Through Streamlined and Modernized Reviews Act seeks to modernize the National Environmental Policy Act review process for HUD-funded housing projects.

- The Reducing Homelessness Through Program Reform Act is designed to ease administrative burdens on homeless service providers by shifting Continuum of Care organizations to a two-year funding application cycle and removing barriers that delay access to services. It also aims to improve coordination with healthcare and law enforcement agencies, support workforce development initiatives, enhance data use including artificial intelligence applications, and expand feedback channels for informing HUD policy.

- The Better Use of Intergovernmental and Local Development (BUILD) Housing Act would further modernize NEPA reviews by increasing capacity sharing between HUD and state or local governments. It would also align HUD’s standards with other agencies through delegated reviews and allow designation of certain assistance as “special project funds.”

These bills are now part of the broader Road to Housing Act sponsored by Senator Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). This proposal focuses on expanding affordable housing supply by reducing regulatory obstacles, encouraging new construction methods, addressing blight recovery after disasters, improving affordability measures, supporting homeownership opportunities—including those for veterans—and enhancing oversight across federal programs.

The act also seeks greater accountability by promoting evidence-based policies while strengthening program integrity through improved coordination among agencies.