President Joe Biden has a new idea for reducing regulatory barriers to new housing construction. Contained within the White House's expansive new Housing Supply Action Plan is a proposal to tie federal transportation grants to state and local governments reforming their zoning codes.
Proponents of this approach argue that the massive amounts of money that the feds spend on transportation give them a lot of helpful leverage over the most overregulated jurisdictions. Conditioning that money on the elimination of barriers to new housing could get exclusive communities, or their respective state governments, to start slashing red tape if they want funding for new roads, bridges, or bike lanes.
