S. 5298

119 S5298 IS: Delivering Americans Affordable Homes Act
 U.S. Senate
 2026-08-06
 text/xml
 EN
 Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.
 II  119th CONGRESS  2d Session  S. 5298  IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES   August 6, 2026   Mr. Van Hollen  (for himself and  Mr. Curtis ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the  Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs    A BILL
To facilitate the leasing of United States Postal Service property for the development of housing, and for other purposes.
1.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the   Delivering Americans Affordable Homes Act  .
2.
Findings
Congress finds the following:
(1)
The United States is facing a housing supply shortage that has resulted in a record number of housing cost-burdened households across regions and spanning the large and small cities, towns, and coastal and rural communities of the United States.
(2)
The Postal Service has operated with an annual financial loss in each year since fiscal year 2007. In fiscal year 2025, the Postal Service reported a net loss of $9,000,000,000.
(3)
The Postal Service owns roughly 8,500 parcels of land in communities across the country, many of which are suitable for housing development.
(4)
The development of housing on land owned by the Postal Service is consistent with its longstanding mission and the delivery of prompt, reliable, and efficient mail services to all communities.
(5)
In order to generate revenue to improve its financial position, and respond to the national housing supply shortage, it is in the public interest for the Postal Service to pursue opportunities to lease to State, local, and Tribal governments and their development partners those real property rights which would facilitate housing development and which would create new sources of revenue for the Postal Service.
3.
Definitions
In this Act:
(1)
Eligible housing use
The term  eligible housing use  means a project to construct new housing units—
(A)
for which not less than 80 percent of the total net rentable area is exclusively for residential use; and
(B)
which may include commercial, recreational, or public uses.
(2)
Joint Development Partnership
The term  Joint Development Partnership  means a joint venture to acquire real property rights and develop the property for an eligible housing use—
(A)
consisting of—
(i)
a public entity; and
(ii)
1 or more entities with the demonstrated capacity to construct and operate housing for rent, including any—
(I)
private entity;
(II)
non-profit entity;
(III)
public housing agency; or
(IV)
local housing finance agency; and
(B)
that is memorialized in a contract, a memorandum of understanding, or other legally binding agreement.
(3)
Office
The term  Office  means the Housing Liaison Office established under section 4(a).
(4)
Postal Service
The term  Postal Service  means the United States Postal Service.
(5)
Postmaster
The term  Postmaster  means the Postmaster General of the United States Postal Service.
(6)
Public entity
The term  public entity  means—
(A)
a State, or an agency or instrumentality of a State;
(B)
a political subdivision of a State, or an agency or instrumentality of a political subdivision of a State;
(C)
the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and or the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, or agency or instrumentality of any such district or territory; or
(D)
an Indian tribe or authorized tribal organization, or Alaska Native village or organization.
4.
Housing Liaison Office
(a)
Establishment
(1)
In general
Not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Postmaster shall establish within the Postal Service a Housing Liaison Office.
(2)
Placement
The Postmaster may task an existing office of the Postal Service with the functions of the Office.
(b)
Duties
The duties of the Office shall be to support the lease of Postal Service real property for housing development in accordance with this Act and carry out the following:
(1)
Inventory parcels for leasing
(A)
In general
The Office shall identify all real property owned by the Postal Service, with respect to which the lease of such property, in whole or in part, including the lease of any right in connection with such property, may be feasible for housing development.
(B)
Factors
In identifying any parcel of real property for the purposes of subparagraph (A), the Office shall consider—
(i)
the parcel’s size, shape, grading, adjacencies, developable air rights, developable ground rights, and potential for site consolidation with neighboring land parcels;
(ii)
any physical constraints on the development of the parcel for housing; and
(iii)
the parcel’s proximity to amenities, including employers, public transportation stations, utilities, and other services and amenities.
(C)
Publication of Inventory
Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter on January 1 of each year, the Office shall publish the inventory of property identified under subparagraph (A) in the Federal Register and on an official Postal Service website.
(2)
Establish a joint development process
(A)
Establishment
Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Office shall publish guidance on a publicly available website establishing a process by which a Joint Development Partnership may propose and negotiate with the Office to lease, in whole or in part, Postal Service real property, including developable ground rights, developable air rights, and any other potential development rights, for an eligible housing use.
(B)
Requirements
The joint development process established under subparagraph (A) shall, in sequential order—
(i)
permit a public entity to identify any particular parcel of real property owned by the Postal Service for a joint development proposal, whether or not it is included in the inventory published under paragraph (1)(C);
(ii)
permit a Joint Development Partnership to propose an eligible housing use for the parcel; and
(iii)
permit a Joint Development Partnership to enter into negotiations with the Office to potentially lease the identified parcel, in accordance with this Act.
(C)
Model Documents
Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Office shall make publicly available model lease agreements and model versions of other transactional documents which may be used by the Office to complete real property transactions pursuant to this Act.
(3)
Disposition for Housing Development
(A)
Permitted dispositions
The Office shall, at the discretion of the Office and subject to the approval of the Postmaster, enter into a lease of real property rights, including developable ground rights, developable air rights, and any other potential development rights, in connection with any real property owned by the Postal Service with a Joint Development Partnership for an eligible housing use, in accordance with section 5.
(B)
Considerations; refusal to lease
The Office shall consider in its decision to enter into a lease agreement and may refuse to lease property rights under this Act if—
(i)
the financial benefit of such lease to the Postal Service would be less than the cost to the Postal Service arising from the development of housing pursuant to the lease agreement; or
(ii)
(I)
the development of housing pursuant to the lease agreement would be substantially disruptive to the delivery of mail; and
(II)
the Postal Service would be unable to mitigate such disruption with reasonable changes to its delivery service.
(C)
Prioritization
The Office shall prioritize prospective lease agreements—
(i)
that cover the costs, in whole or in part, of the maintenance, renovation, or rehabilitation of the Postal Service facility at the property of the prospective lease;
(ii)
with a Joint Development Partnership the component entities of which—
(I)
have previously demonstrated time and cost efficiency in housing development;
(II)
have previously constructed housing with the support of Federal, State, local, or non-profit subsidies; and
(III)
have demonstrated willingness to obtain Federal, State, local, or non-profit subsidies for development of housing on the property of the prospective lease; and
(iii)
that maximize the income-restricted affordability of the units in the proposed housing development project.
(c)
Consultants
The Office may hire experts and consultants as may be necessary to carry out its functions under this Act.
5.
Lease agreements
(a)
In general
Each lease agreement entered into pursuant to this Act shall—
(1)
be for a term of not less than 60 years;
(2)
specify affordability terms, including that—
(A)
restrictions on affordability in the lease agreement shall last for not less than 50 years; and
(B)
not less than 20 percent of units in the proposed housing development project shall be affordable to households earning 80 percent or less of the Area Median Income of the area of the proposed housing project, adjusted for household size; and
(3)
over the life of the lease, provide revenue to the Postal Service of not less than the lesser of—
(A)
the appraised fair annual rental value of the leased property rights, as appraised at the time the parties enter into the lease agreement, minus the value of any public benefit, at the discretion of the Postal Service; or
(B)
the net present value of the leased property rights, as appraised at the time the parties enter into the lease agreement, minus the value of any public benefit, at the discretion of the Postal Service.
(b)
No sales
The Office may not enter into any agreement to sell any real property rights to a Joint Development Partnership for an eligible housing use pursuant to this Act.
(c)
Preservation
In any lease agreement under this Act, the Office shall preserve any art that—
(1)
is physically located at the Postal Service property subject to the lease agreement;
(2)
was completed between 1934 and 1943; and
(3)
was commissioned, in whole or in part, with funding from the United States Department of the Treasury Section of Painting and Sculpture Program, United States Department of the Treasury Section of Fine Arts, or United States Department of the Treasury Relief Art Project.
(d)
Other requirements
All laborers and mechanics employed by contractors or subcontractors in the performance of construction, alteration, or repair work carried out, in whole or in part, pursuant to a lease agreement under this Act shall be paid wages at rates not less than those prevailing on projects of a similar character in the locality as determined by the Secretary of Labor in accordance with subchapter IV of  chapter 31  of title 40, United States Code. With respect to the labor standards specified in this subsection, the Secretary of Labor shall have the authority and functions set forth in Reorganization Plan Numbered 14 of 1950 (64 Stat. 1267; 5 U.S.C. App.) and section 3145 of title 40, United States Code.
(e)
Rule of construction
The lease of property rights pursuant to this Act shall not, by itself, be considered to be a closure or consolidation for purposes of section 404(d) of title 39, United States Code, or any regulations issued under that section.
6.
Funding
(a)
Initial funding
Upon the enactment of this Act, the Postal Service shall reserve the next $10,000,000 dollars it receives in revenue from the sale of Postal Service property for carrying out the activities of the Office.
(b)
Authorization of appropriations
(1)
In general
There are authorized to be appropriated to the Postal Service to carry out this Act, to remain available until expended—
(A)
$10,000,000 for fiscal year 2027;
(B)
$10,000,000 for fiscal year 2028;
(C)
$10,000,000 for fiscal year 2029;
(D)
$10,000,000 for fiscal year 2030; and
(E)
$10,000,000 for fiscal year 2031.
(2)
Authorization in subsequent fiscal years
To the extent amounts authorized to be appropriated under paragraph (1) for a fiscal year are not appropriated in that fiscal year, such amounts are authorized to be appropriated in a subsequent fiscal year, in addition to any other amount authorized to be appropriated in that subsequent fiscal year.
(c)
Revenue from activities
Each year, the Postal Service may reserve up to $10,000,000 (as adjusted annually for inflation) that it receives from lease agreements entered into under this Act for carrying out the activities of the Office. All other revenue from lease agreements entered into under this Act shall be deposited into the Postal Service Fund.
7.
Preservation of Authority
Nothing in this Act shall be construed to limit any authority of the Postal Service over real property under section 401 of title 39, United States Code.