Lawmakers have been working to address a housing shortage since the Great Recession nearly two decades ago.
U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández promoted her Home of Your Own Act during a press conference Friday. She was joined by U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-New York.
The legislation which seeks to establish a homeownership grant program designed to help eligible homeowners with down payments.
“So here in New Mexico, we know that home is not just where you live, it’s where you make community,” Leger Fernández said, “it’s where you make memories.”
We send out our politics newsletter every Monday morning. Sign up here to get it in your inbox for free!
She said that owning a home is “a way of combating inflation” and that it helps build wealth “that you can pass onto your children.”
Leger Fernández said that she looked into when the current affordable housing crisis began and that it was during and after the Great Recession in the late 2000s when fewer homes were being built. Another issue are interest rates remaining high. The Federal Reserve recently lowered interest rates for the first time in four years.
“I think that we are going to see the interest rate go down. It’s already starting to go down, and hopefully we’ll see both more rate cuts and lower interest,” Leger Fernández said.
Related: Fed rate cut could help state, local governments
Leger Fernández grew up in a rental home in a family of seven where she and her sister’s room was the hallway.
“I remember what a big deal it was (for our parents) to build a home of their own and we moved from the hallway into not sharing a single bed, but each having our own, a single bed in the bedroom,” she said.
The bill seeks to help new homeowners who want to own a home instead of rent but are having issues affording the down payment and closing costs.
“And in fact, 40 percent of renters talk about the fact that the reason they can’t buy a home is they can’t afford the down payment,” Leger Fernández said.
The event was held at homeownership assistance firm Homewise in Albuquerque.
“I think America really needs to increase access to homeowners. We don’t do enough for homeownership,” Homewise CEO Mike Loftin said. “The reason it’s so important to think we all know about the wealth building effects of homeownership, but the biggest single portion of wealth for Americans is their home, and we’re never going to close the wealth gap in America if we don’t close the homeownership gap.”
Jeffries spoke at the event and several others this week in Albuquerque.
“You know, the affordable housing crisis is one of the most significant challenges that the country faces,” he said. “Affordable homeownership is at the center of what we all view as the great American dream, and you work hard and play by the rules in the United States of America, you should be able to provide a comfortable living for yourself and for your family, and at the center of that is homeownership. But for far too many people in New Mexico and across the country, homeownership has increasingly been out of reach.”
Rep. Melanie Stansbury, a Democrat who represents New Mexico’s 1st Congressional District, also spoke at the press conference.
“We have high interest rates and people can’t afford to get into homes. Rentals went up, and it has coincided with the huge crisis that happened during the pandemic, and that’s part of what’s driving homelessness here in New Mexico, alongside the fentanyl crisis and the substance abuse crisis that we’re seeing in our communities,” Stansbury said. “Programs that help low income people get into housing while they are still on their feet, they have a job, they’re building their personal wealth and pursuing their dreams, not only ensure that we continue to grow our economy and that our families are stable, but also it’s good for our communities.”
2nd Congressional District and Project 2025
Jeffries also spoke about The Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 plan at a campaign event Thursday where he and others discussed former Rep. Yvette Herrell’s record, including her 100 percent grade from The Heritage Foundation.
“The people fired Donald Trump in 2020. The people fired Yvette Herrell in 2022,” Jerffries said in a press release. “But they just won’t go away. Why? Because they have a plan, a blueprint and a manifesto to exercise extreme MAGA Republican control over the lives of the people of New Mexico and folks all across the country.”
“As I travel throughout this district, I hear EVERY DAY how fed up people are with Gabe Vasquez and Kamala Harris’s atrocious agenda. We KNOW the reality of the border crisis because we LIVE it – It’s taking place right here in NM–2, where we have 180 miles of border with Mexico,” Herrell said in a campaign email Friday.
The event was a campaign event for Rep. Gabe Vasquez who currently holds the state’s battleground 2nd Congressional District which was once held by Herrell.
“We know who Yvette Herrell is because her voting record is clear,” Vasquez said in a press release. “She is an anti-immigrant, MAGA extremist who wants to ban access to abortion in New Mexico and nationwide.”
Both Vasquez and Herrell are up for a rematch in November.
Related: Project 2025 week at NM Political Report
NM Political Report did a series on select topics covered in Project 2025, right wing think tank The Heritage Foundation’s document aimed at transitioning power in the event former President Donald Trump wins in November.NM Political Report also held a News & Brews event in September focused on Project 2025 and its potential effects on New Mexico.