Murkowski cosponsors bill letting housing builders use industry certifications to prove materials are US-made

Sen. Lisa Murkowski is cosponsoring a Senate bill introduced Wednesday that would let builders on federally funded housing projects use industry certifications to prove their materials are American-made.

Under the Build America, Buy America rules in the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, iron, steel, manufactured products and construction materials in covered federally funded projects must be produced in the United States, and builders have to show their materials comply. The Build American Efficiency Act would let the Department of Housing and Urban Development accept documentation from the Make It American Process Standard, an industry-led certification process, or similar auditable systems, as sufficient proof. It would not change the underlying requirement or require any single database, and builders could still use other lawful methods. Developers can already request HUD waivers for materials American manufacturers don't make.

"I'm committed to using every federal resource available to make building homes in Alaska more streamlined and affordable across the board," Murkowski said in a statement Thursday.

In Alaska, regional housing authorities build much of the housing for the state's tribes. At a Commonwealth North housing panel in August, Griffin Forster, executive director of the Association of Alaska Housing Authorities, said the Buy America rules "added a lot of new compliance requirements to what regional housing authorities do without any funding to support that."

Sens. Angus King of Maine and John Curtis of Utah introduced the bill, and Sen. Peter Welch of Vermont is also a cosponsor. "Eliminating this time-consuming and costly additional step for homebuilders will allow them to build more homes faster," King said. A House version, H.R. 9194, was introduced in June by Rep. Tracey Mann, R-Kan.

The National Association of Realtors, the National Association of Manufacturers and the Associated General Contractors support the bill. The Senate version, S. 5652, has been referred to the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.