‘Both parties need to learn that government intervention does not remedy government intervention’
SCHAUMBURG, IL (March 4, 2026) – Eighteen U.S. senators led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) have introduced the American Homeownership Act to “stop Wall Street’s Housing Grab and Get Homes Back into the Hands of Families,” as the lawmakers’ press release puts it. The 29-page bill includes multiple provisions restricting the ability of corporations to buy residential properties.
The American Homeownership Act would deny rental-property owners tax deductions on interest expenses that other companies receive, deploying the tax system as a policy hammer. That would move money out of residential investment into enterprises the tax system treats better.
The government would then “reinvest the savings to increase the supply of affordable housing,” the statement says. That would add to already excessive federal spending, which caused the inflation that created the affordability crisis in the first place. It would also replace private companies, which the profit motive always pushes to be as efficient as possible, with inefficient government administration.
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The following quotes, provided by Heartland Institute experts, can be used for attribution:
“The only way to solve the housing affordability crisis is to increase the supply of housing. Like elements of President Trump’s recent executive order on “Stopping Wall Street from Competing with Main Street Homebuyers,” the congressional proposal would reduce the supply of available housing by decreasing investment in it. That is the opposite of what needs to happen.
“The bill goes much further than Trump’s order, which itself went far beyond efforts to limit the damage the federal government itself has been doing to the housing market, venturing into antitrust restrictions and other harsh, market-limiting policies.
“Both parties need to learn that government intervention does not remedy government intervention. Only government retrenchment can do that: removal of the bad laws that are causing the problems. These include inflationary government overspending, unconstitutional and irrational federal housing programs, and innumerable state and local restrictions on housing construction.
“The most important way for the federal government to solve our problems is to stop creating them.”
S.T. Karnick
Senior Fellow
Glenn C. Haskins Emerging Issues Center
The Heartland Institute
[email protected]
“The most pressing issue for Americans is affordability, particularly when it comes to housing. In recent years, the American dream of home ownership has become impossible for far too many Americans to achieve. Today, the median age of a new homebuyer is 40, the highest it has ever been. The solution is to substantially increase the supply of housing. While the federal government can tinker with this on the margins, it is mostly a state and local issue. Therefore, state and local governments must lead the charge in making housing more available by reforming zoning laws and reducing property taxes.”
Chris Talgo
Editorial Director
The Heartland Institute
[email protected]
If you’d like to interview a Heartland Institute expert on this topic or other topics, please contact Donald Kendal, the director of the Glenn C. Haskins Emerging Issues Center at [email protected], or contact Vice President and Director of Communications Jim Lakely at [email protected]. You can also call/text Jim at 312-731-9364.
S. T. Karnick is a senior fellow and director of publications for The Heartland Institute.
Chris Talgo is the Editorial Director for The Heartland Institute and a fellow for Heartland’s Glenn C. Haskins Emerging Issues Center.
