Padilla Statement on 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) issued the following statement after the Senate overwhelmingly passed the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act on a bipartisan basis:
“As Donald Trump’s chaotic agenda raises costs for working families on everything from housing to gas prices to health care, we need thoughtful action to help ensure people have access to safe, affordable housing. 21st Century ROAD to Housing is an important step to meaningfully modernize our outdated housing system.
“I’m proud to see the bill includes my proposal to make sure veterans experiencing homelessness and receiving VA disability benefits can still be eligible for housing assistance. This package will also help Californians rebuild their homes and their lives after disasters, unlock millions of dollars in federal funding for local governments for new housing construction, and strengthen rural housing programs that support millions of Americans.
“Meanwhile, I will continue pushing to address the homelessness and housing crises facing California and the nation through comprehensive legislation like my Housing for All Act.”
As part of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, the Senate passed Padilla’s bipartisan Housing Unhoused Disabled Veterans Act (HUDVA) to ensure that veterans experiencing homelessness and receiving disability payments maintain access to crucial housing support. HUDVA would permanently exclude disability payments received by veterans from annual income for housing assistance eligibility purposes under the Department of Housing and Urban Development-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) Program. The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act also includes the Housing Supply Expansion Act of 2025, legislation Senator Padilla cosponsored that would modernize the federal definition of “manufactured housing” to include modular or prefabricated homes built without a permanent chassis. By allowing off-chassis manufactured homes, the bill would expand consumer access to more efficient and cost-effective designs, providing greater architectural flexibility to better integrate into existing neighborhoods. Padilla is also a cosponsor of the Unleashing Needed Local Options to Construct and Keep (UNLOCK) Housing Act; a modified version of the bill was included in the housing package to allow municipalities, for the first time, to use Community Development Block Grant funding for the construction of new housing.
Senator Padilla believes everyone deserves access to affordable and safe housing and recognizes the need to drastically increase the affordable housing stock to address the homelessness crisis facing California and the country, including through his Housing for All Act.
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