Republicans get serious on housing crisis with high-profile conservative influencer leading the charge

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FIRST ON FOX: Conservative influencer Benny Johnson is leading a new initiative to "Make Housing Great Again" amid concerns that Millennials and Gen Z are being pushed out of homeownership by rising costs, stagnant wages and regulatory burdens.

The new initiative, which is being announced Friday, will be led by the America First Policy Institute (AFPI) with help from Johnson, who will be the initiative's co-chair and national spokesperson, serving as the voice of the initiative. Johnson will also help lead a business advisory council related to making housing more affordable.

"Benny has 4 million followers. He is, you know, so influential. He's been talking about this a lot on his own social media platforms, and so he is the perfect person to help deliver the policies," Ashley Hayek, AFPI’s Executive Vice President and co-chair of the initiative, told Fox News Digital. "He has young children. I have young children. And for us, we are both very fired up about this issue."

I WORKED WITH CHARLIE KIRK FOR MORE THAN A DECADE. AMERICA LOST A FUTURE PRESIDENT

Conservative influencer Benny Johnson will be the voice of the America First Policy Institute's new ‘Make Housing Great Again’ initiative launched on Friday. (Brett Carlsen and Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Hayek pointed out that advocating for policy is, at least in part, a messaging war, and Johnson's ability to articulate himself well will help with that. Additionally, he has the attention of many young people, who Hayek noted often aren't aware of the tools out there to help them buy a home. 

Greg Sindelar, AFPI's interim president, added that the current culture in the United States "too often diminishes traditional aspirations," like homeownership and building a family, which has taken a toll on younger generations.

Even Democrats tend to agree. Former Democrat congressman and ambassador to Japan, Rahm Emanuel, wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post in August explaining how the increased difficulty of homeownership is depressing young men, particularly due to the fact that buying a home is often seen as such a pivotal part of achieving the American Dream.

"Rising costs, stagnant wages, regulatory burdens, and a culture that too often diminishes traditional aspirations have left millions feeling directionless and forgotten," Sindelar said. "AFPI is committed to reversing this trend by advancing meaningful, actionable policy solutions rooted in the principles of the America First movement."

BIPARTISAN PLAN AIMS TO MAKE THE AMERICAN DREAM AFFORDABLE AGAIN FOR MILLIONS OF FIRST-TIME HOMEBUYERS 

The new initiative, announced Friday, laid out a list of policy proposals it plans to advance across government of all levels.

Single family homes in a residential neighborhood in San Marcos, Texas, US, on Tuesday, March 12, 2024. (Jordan Vonderhaar/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Among those proposals is a push to eliminate capital gains taxes on first home sales as long as they reinvest in another home within the following five years. This proposal is aimed at mirroring the spirit of President Donald Trump's "Opportunity Zones" aimed at accelerating wealth and economic development for low-income communities. 

"Homes are too expensive and totally out of reach for young people. The slow death of the American Dream is happening before our eyes. It is a generational betrayal and we must reverse this trend by Making Housing Great Again," Johnson told Fox News Digital. "Today, the average age of a first-time homebuyer in America is 40 years old. That is well past the optimal age for marriage and family creation. The battle for homeownership is a battle for our cultural and civilizational survival. We need more young people to get married and start families and that cannot happen without a culture of homeownership.  We must deliver on this promise for our young people. The American Dream hangs in the balance."

Another proposal includes a push for the creation of "Home Savings Accounts" similar to a Health Savings Account (HSA) that allows individuals to contribute pre-tax dollars to pay for their healthcare needs.

One proposal also includes a plan to reduce regulations and increase incentives across states and localities that have restricted the development of new housing supply. One example they point to is "green building standards," which the initiative says bloats costs for builders. By getting rid of these regulations, they say that it will dramatically reduce the cost for builders, who will then in turn be able to increase supply.

Conservative commentator Benny Johnson has 3.8 million followers on X and 5.6 million YouTube subscribers.  (Fox News Digital)

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Other proposals include measures to stop predatory lending to young people, while promoting innovative housing like tiny homes. 

Tax-focused proposals are in the mix as well, such as a "Family Formation Mortgage Credit," aimed at making family formation and homeownership financially synergistic. It will give families that marry and have a child within five years a $10,000 reduction on their mortgage through a refundable tax credit. The initiative will also push to double the child-tax credit for households filing their taxes jointly and own a home, or are planning to own one.