Q: What do you hear from Iowans about housing?
A: In August I wrapped up my 43rd year in a row holding at least one meeting in every county across the state. From urban areas to county seats and smaller rural communities, I regularly hear from employers, civic leaders and chambers of commerce members how housing shortages impact economic growth and community wide efforts to fill job openings and grow local businesses. Home builders cite a shortage of workers in skilled trades that’s also pushing up housing costs. I’m supporting bipartisan legislation called the Promoting Employment and Lifelong Learning (PELL) Act that would help address the labor shortage by allowing students to apply Pell grants to short-term programs offered through community colleges, including the construction trades. The Biden administration’s climate change agenda also is adding thousands of dollars to home prices. I’m working to cut unnecessary regulations and red tape that would make it even harder for lower-income households to afford a home. In the last couple of years, Iowans across the state have raised concerns about the high cost of living, driving up prices for food, energy and housing. The fastest interest rate hikes in four decades also have raised borrowing costs for farmers and credit card holders, and pushed up 30-year mortgages to 8%, the highest in a generation. This threshold is pricing more and more people out of the market and pushing homeownership – one of the foundations of the American Dream – out of reach for younger generations. The Federal Reserve raised interest rates to tap the brakes on soaring inflation that roared to a 40-year high under the Biden administration, after the White House ignored warnings and pushed for trillions of dollars in extra spending on top of the $4 trillion in pandemic relief already priming the economic pump. Thanks to sky high inflation, American families are draining their bank accounts to pay for groceries, gas and everyday living essentials. Iowans tell me they wonder if grocery prices will ever return back to Earth. Inflation data show grocery store staples got 11.3% more expensive between January 2022 and January 2023. One recent analysis calculated potential homebuyers would pay 60% more today on a monthly mortgage than if they purchased the same home three years ago. Would-be first time homebuyers are being left behind in the Biden economy. Double-income parents are struggling to afford child care, put food on the table and pay rent, let alone putting money away for a down payment on a home or college and retirement savings. As the top Republican on the Senate Budget Committee, I’ve led efforts during the 118th Congress to restore fiscal sanity to the federal ledgers and stop reckless spending sprees. Don’t forget, high interest rates put a higher burden on taxpayers. Over the next 10 years, interest payments on our debt will cost taxpayers more than $10.4 trillion, money that could be directed for tax relief, border security, rural health care, food security and infrastructure. Already, federal borrowing costs have reached a 16-year high, fueling today’s unprecedented debt and deficit levels. The tax-and-spend Biden agenda has put the skids on homeownership for the next generation; current homeowners don’t want to sell and buy a new home with a higher mortgage rate. Like many Americans, Iowans are feeling less financially secure in the Biden economy because so many families are scraping to get by from paycheck to paycheck.
Q: With winter around the corner, is help available for Iowans struggling to heat their homes?
A: For more than four decades, the federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) serves eligible households to help lower heating costs. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently unveiled a new tool to simplify the application process for people wanting to find out if they are eligible for assistance. To learn if you qualify, visitwww.energyhelp.us or call the National Energy Assistance Referral (NEAR) hotline toll-free at (866) 674-6327. Iowans also may apply through their local community action agencies located in all 99 counties. Visit the Iowa Department of Human Rights online at https://humanrights.iowa.gov to learn more. Every year more than five million U.S. households receive LIHEAP assistance, including more than 80,000 in Iowa. If your household budget is stretched thin to pay for food, medicine and housing expenses, check out the LIHEAP program to see if it can help you stay warm through the winter. LIHEAP funding may be used to help pay heating bills, restore or prevent disconnection, repair or replace heating equipment and install weatherization upgrades to make homes more energy efficient during the cold winter months. This winter, the state of Iowa will receive more than $52 million in LIHEAP funding to distribute to qualifying households. Applications are accepted on a first-come, first-served basis Nov. 1-April 30 each year.