Six Rep. Axne-Sponsored Bills Advanced This Week to Cut Health Care Costs, Invest in Broadband, Clean Energy, and Protect Iowa Renters, Homeowners

WASHINGTON, July 3 -- Rep. Cynthia Axne, D-Iowa, issued the following news release:

This week, members of the U.S. House of Representatives voted to advance six different pieces of legislation written and sponsored by Rep. Cindy Axne (IA-03). Her legislation was included in multiple legislative packages that reduce the costs of health care, invest in infrastructure improvements, and protect renters and homeowners during the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

The six Axne-sponsored bills are:

* The Fair Indexing for Health Care Affordability Act, which reduces out-of-pocket health care costs and reverses a rule that is projected to increase higher insurance premiums for at least 7.3 million Americans, was included in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Enhancement Act. The bill was originally introduced by Rep. Axne in February.

* The Accessible, Affordable Internet for All Act -$100 billion investment in rural broadband expansion that Rep. Axne and the House Rural Broadband Task Force introduced last week - was included in the $1.5 trillion infrastructure package that passed the House yesterday.

* The Manufactured Housing Community (MHC) Preservation Act, a bill to preserve the affordability of manufactured and mobile home communities introduced in January by Rep. Axne, was added as an amendment to the infrastructure package in a unanimous vote yesterday prior to the bill's passage.

* The Protect Rural Renters Act, introduced by Rep. Axne in May, provides $309 million in assistance for elderly and low-income Americans in rural areas through the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Section 515 and Section 521 rental housing programs. The legislation was included in the Emergency Housing Protections and Relief Act.

* The Coronavirus Housing Counseling Support Act funds $100 in housing counseling assistance to connect renters and homeowners with advice on navigating payments, credit issues, foreclosure and eviction, and other housing related issues. The bill was also included in the Emergency Housing Protections and Relief Act; and was introduced in March.

* The final infrastructure package, the Moving Forward Act, also included an updated version of the National Climate Bank Act, which would leverage $20 billion of capital to support more than $500 billion of investment in clean energy and emissions reduction projects, a bill Rep. Axne introduced with four colleagues in December.