Holding Up Good Legislation

Voters wait in line and fill out their ballots at a voting center at Lumen Field Event Center on Election Day, Nov. 5, 2024, in Seattle. (Lindsey Wasson / AP Photo) By Tom Becka Now let me get this straight. President Trump won’t sign bipartisan legislation to make it easier for people to buy a house until Congress passes legislation that will make it harder for those same homebuyers to vote. Make that make sense. The SAVE Act that President Trump is trying to pass is such a bad idea that many Republican Senators who normally grovel at his feet and jump at his every demand are saying that this is a bridge too far. Trump is trying to sell this as some commonsense voter ID legislation, but it is far from that. The SAVE Act (Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act) would require a person to prove they are an American citizen before they register to vote. Now let’s forget for a moment that very few non-citizens will make an effort to vote. Hell, it’s hard enough to get actual citizens to go to the ballot box, let alone those who aren’t. To prove your citizenship, you would need to show your birth certificate or passport. That’s not as easy for many people as it sounds. Do you know where your birth certificate is? If you don’t, do you know how to get a copy, and are you willing to go through the hassle to get a new one? What do you do about those women who have changed their names at marriage? How many hoops will they have to jump through to prove their citizenship? What about children who were adopted at birth and had their names changed? Not to mention the transgender population that has not only changed their name but also their sex. Why should it be harder for all those groups of people to vote? The SAVE Act is not a voter ID bill. It’s voter suppression plain and simple, which might explain why Stephen Miller is so for it. Under President Trump, Republicans have worked to cast doubt on the security of our elections. They have worked to make it harder to vote. They have gerrymandered districts to benefit their party in congressional races. Here in Nebraska, Governor Pillen and previous Republican governors have tried to get rid of our Blue Dot. But evidently the president doesn’t think all of that has gone far enough. He wants the SAVE Act to make it even harder for many to vote. Kudos to those Republican Senators who are standing up to the President, even if it means easing the housing crisis will have to wait. Among other provisions, the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act would make it easier to permit housing construction by streamlining federal environmental reviews. It would remove federal restrictions on modular and manufactured housing and make it easier and cheaper to build homes by reducing federal regulatory barriers. The bill would also make it easier for buyers by updating HUD financing rules. It will also make more inventory available for first-time home buyers by limiting the number of single-family homes institutional investors can own. This housing bill won’t fix all the problems in the housing crisis, and it certainly won’t fix the ones it can fix overnight, but it’s a good step to at least make things easier for home builders and buyers. As divided as Congress appears to be these days, it’s refreshing to see legislation most can agree on. This bill passed with a veto-proof majority. Getting that to happen is all too rare these days. The House voted 358-32, and the Senate passed it 85-5. When was the last time we saw numbers like that come out of DC? In the Constitution, there is a provision that makes it possible for this housing bill to sit on the president’s desk and be put into law without his signature. But there are techniques Speaker of the House Mike Johnson could use to delay or prevent that from happening, too. The president is being petty and not very smart politically. His low approval rating isn’t going to get any better by hurting homebuyers and voters. In previous times, a president would sign this legislation before the cameras and take credit for making life better for the taxpayers. It would especially help his party’s congressmen and senators who are up for reelection if he could do it a few months before the midterms. But President Trump isn’t doing that. Make that make sense. Tom Becka is a long time Nebraska broadcaster who for over 30 years has been covering Omaha and Midwest issues on both radio and TV. He has been a guest on numerous national cable and news shows, filled in for nationally syndicated talk radio programs and Talkers Magazine has recognized him as one of the Top 100 talk show hosts in the country 10 times. Never afraid to ruffle some feathers, his ‘Becka’s Beat’ commentaries can be found online on Youtube and other digital platforms. Opinions expressed by columnists in The Daily Record are not necessarily those of its management or staff, and do not constitute an endorsement or recommendation. Any errors or omissions should be called to our attention so that they may be corrected. Contact us at [email protected] . Category: Tom Becka