American Jobs Plan pumps money into affordable housing market but has ‘unprecedented labor mandates,’ group says

President Biden’s proposed American Jobs Plan pairs $213 billion in direct funding with more than $100 billion in new and expanded tax credits with bipartisan support to build and modernize affordable housing across the country. It also imposes unprecedented labor mandates on projects funded by those sources, according to the National Association of Home Builders.

Companies seeking to avail themselves of tax credits or funding opportunities would be required to “pay workers prevailing wages; enter into project labor, community workforce, and local hire agreements; and use workers from registered apprenticeships and other labor or labor-management training programs. Employers receiving funding would also be required to remain neutral when their employees seek to organize a union and bargain collectively and may not require their employees to agree to mandatory individual arbitration,” according to the White House fact sheet. 

The NAHB opposes the proposed mandates, which the organization says “jeopardize future economic growth and will inflate the cost of home construction.”