Attorney General Hilgers Joined Multi-State Lawsuit to Protect Affordable Housing

LINCOLN – Attorney General Hilgers joined Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in a 15-state coalition with the National Association of Home Builders to challenge radical energy codes that will hike housing costs.

The lawsuit challenges the constitutionality of Section 109 of the Cranston-Gonzalez Act. That law permits the Department of Housing and Development (HUD) and the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to delegate to two private organizations the authority to set energy efficiency standards for many homes throughout the Nation. In other words, the laws governing a large portion of our Nation’s housing are set by private groups that Americans never elected. The lawsuit also challenges the agencies’ adoption of new iterations of the private organizations’ codes.  

This law and corresponding regulation are costly. The agencies concede the standards will cost up to $8,345 for each new home covered by the regulation. Estimates by industry professionals show the actual costs are far higher—up to $31,000 for each new home. The agencies project that over 161,000 new units of single-family housing and more than 17,000 new units of multi-family housing will be affected every year. 

“We have an affordability crisis in the home market,” said Mike Hilgers. “These codes will only make things worse by inflating costs and decreasing production of needed housing. Nebraskans didn’t elect these groups to make these decisions, and they should not be allowed to push the dream of owning a home further out of reach.”

In addition to Utah, Texas, and Nebraska, the lawsuit is joined by the States of Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, South Carolina, Tennessee, and West Virginia, as well as the National Association of Home Builders.  

The case is pending in the Eastern District of Texas.