Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley and Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib reintroduced the Housing for Formerly Incarcerated Reentry and Stable Tenancy (Housing FIRST) Act of 2026, bold legislation to help people who are formerly incarcerated and those with criminal histories access safe and stable housing.
Reintroduce and advance the Housing FIRST Act to remove criminal-record barriers in tenant screening and expand housing access for formerly incarcerated people.
Occurrences
Evidence
Pressley's office said on May 1, 2026 that she and Rep. Rashida Tlaib reintroduced the Housing for Formerly Incarcerated Reentry and Stable Tenancy (Housing FIRST) Act of 2026. The release says the bill would remove barriers tied to criminal records in tenant screening and that Pressley discussed the bill in a House Financial Services Committee hearing.
Pressley's official House release says she and Rep. Rashida Tlaib reintroduced the Housing for Formerly Incarcerated Reentry and Stable Tenancy (Housing FIRST) Act of 2026. It says the bill would remove barriers tied to criminal records in tenant screening, limit criminal-record screening criteria, and that Pressley discussed the bill in a House Financial Services Committee hearing. The release lists bill provisions including barring consumer reporting agencies from furnishing tenant-screening reports with criminal-background information and excluding older convictions from tenant-screening consumer reports.
Assessments
Pressley fulfilled the reintroduction portion by reintroducing the Housing FIRST Act of 2026 with Rep. Rashida Tlaib, and she gave it some same-term visibility through House Financial Services Committee discussion. The available evidence does not show stronger advancement such as committee markup, floor passage, enactment, or implemented removal of criminal-record barriers in tenant screening, so the promise is only partly fulfilled rather than delivered.
Pressley fulfilled the reintroduction component by reintroducing the Housing FIRST Act of 2026 with Rep. Rashida Tlaib, and the bill matches the promised substance on removing criminal-record barriers in tenant screening and expanding housing access for formerly incarcerated people. The evidence also shows some same-term advancement through discussion in a House Financial Services Committee hearing. However, it does not show stronger legislative advancement such as committee markup, passage, enactment, or implementation, so the full promised outcome is not delivered.