Senator Saval speaks at a rally in Harrisburg, PA in 2022 during the campaign for Whole-Home Repairs. Created as part of the 2022–2023 budget with an appropriation of $125 million, the program was the first of its kind in the nation, repairing homes and stabilizing communities.
Pennsylvania’s Whole-Home Repairs Program has helped fix nearly 4,000 homes across the Commonwealth since its launch and has been hailed as a groundbreaking tool in the fight against the housing and energy affordability crises. The expansion of the program at the federal level opens the door to these benefits for communities nationwide, with the potential for additional funding for Pennsylvania.
HARRISBURG, PA − June 23, 2026 − Today, with Congress’s passage of the sweeping 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, Pennsylvania’s renowned Whole-Home Repairs Program has been expanded as a national pilot.
Whole-Home Repairs was drafted, introduced, and championed by State Senator Nikil Saval (D–Philadelphia) in 2022, in partnership with a coalition of housing and energy advocates, community partners, and Pennsylvania residents. It passed in Congress with overwhelming bipartisan margins, creating an opportunity for the program to benefit communities across the country.
Following the federal passage, Saval issued the following statement:
“When we passed the Whole-Home Repairs Program, we hoped it would offer a blueprint for other states grappling with how to preserve their aging housing stock and protect the health of their residents. Today’s passage of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act shows the realization of this hope.
“Four years ago, in the face of a chronic housing crisis threatening the safety and wellbeing of millions of Pennsylvanians, including hundreds of thousands living in homes in need of critical repairs, members of Pennsylvania’s General Assembly came together in collective resolve to take meaningful action.
“The creation of the Whole-Home Repairs Program was a direct investment in the health of Pennsylvania’s people and the stability of our communities. The program provided, for the first time, a statewide response to the epidemic of disrepair affecting our aging homes. It offered a means for people to weatherize their homes against extreme weather and the high costs of energy. It made available resources for residents to adapt their homes so that they could remain even as their abilities changed. Moreover, during a time of depopulation and displacement, it offered crucial support for Pennsylvanians to remain in their communities.
“Now, these benefits will be available to communities nationwide—a victory made possible through the unwavering efforts of a dedicated coalition of advocates, organizers, and residents. I’m enormously proud for Pennsylvania to have laid the path for national housing action and immensely grateful to our federal partners for their vision and dedication in making it possible for people across the country to live in homes that are warm, safe, and dry.”
Pennsylvania’s Whole-Home Repairs Program created a one-stop shop in each county in Pennsylvania for home repairs and weatherization while building out a skilled local workforce and creating new family-sustaining jobs. Since its launch, nearly 4,000 households have benefited from the program, and repairs continue on homes throughout the Commonwealth.
The success of Whole-Home Repairs in Pennsylvania inspired work toward similar programs in other states, including in Maine, Maryland, and Washington State. Saval’s office met with legislators and advocates across the country, and Saval traveled to Washington to consult with federal policymakers on the national adoption of the program.
The passage of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act comes as people throughout the United States struggle under the protracted housing affordability crisis. One in three U.S. households is cost-burdened, spending at least 30% of their monthly incomes on housing costs; nearly one in six is severely cost-burdened, spending at least 50% of their incomes on housing.
The long-awaited bipartisan housing bill, advanced by U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D–Massachusetts) and Tim Scott (R–South Carolina) and U.S. Representatives Maxine Waters (D–California) and French Hill (R–Arkansas), passed through both chambers with overwhelming support. The bill is expected to be signed by the president on Wednesday.
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Senator Nikil Saval is a father, husband, writer, and organizer representing Pennsylvania’s First Senatorial District. Serving as Democratic Chair of the Senate’s Urban Affairs & Housing Committee and Chair of the Senate’s Philadelphia Delegation, Saval’s legislative work is focused on critical response to Pennsylvania’s housing, mass incarceration, wage, and climate crises, while simultaneously pushing for deep structural change. He is fighting for a Philadelphia and Pennsylvania that works for everyone.