Congress expands housing for people in recovery from addiction
H.R. 1231 — START Housing Act of 2025 · Filed by Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) · 9 cosponsors · Introduced Feb 12, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill reauthorizes and expands a federal recovery housing program (originally created in the SUPPORT Act) that helps people with substance use disorders transition to stable housing. It extends funding through 2031, prioritizes states with highest unemployment, lowest labor participation, highest overdose deaths, and highest homelessness, and requires states to use funds to supplement (not replace) existing local spending and ensure participants move to permanent housing after the program ends.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core function is reauthorizing and expanding federal funding for recovery housing programs serving people with substance use disorders and homelessness. It is a public health and housing measure, not a tax or regulatory carve-out.
What the text implies
- The 'supplement not supplant' language may be difficult to enforce if states creatively reclassify existing spending, potentially limiting the bill's actual expansion of services.
- Prioritization formula based on 2019–2023 data may not reflect current conditions; states with improving conditions could lose priority while those with worsening crises gain it mid-program.
The full analysis lists 4 implications of this text.
Who stands to gain
multifamily housing operators (MAA, EQR, CPT, PLD); housing finance entities (EFC); nonprofit housing developers