IN THIS UPDATE:
On the Hill: The largest housing bill in a generation passes Congress, then becomes law! Plus: a lesser-known geothermal win.
Our Growing Team: Our COO search, plus five new hires featured in Playbook.
New Polling: Nearly 20,000 voters just told us permitting reform is a winning issue, even after we threw the best counterarguments at them.
Abundance Job Openings: 5 new roles across the ecosystem.
What We’re Reading & Watching
ON THE HILL
The biggest congressional news this month is that the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, the most significant housing legislation in 30 years, is now law.
The bill cleared the Senate 85-5 on June 22, then passed the House 358-32 the next day. A signing ceremony was planned, but President Trump held off, tying his signature to passage of the SAVE America Act, a separate voter ID bill. The housing bill sat on his desk until July 10, when it became law without his signature. Read a statement from our President, Derek Kaufman.
Baillee Brown, our Head of Government and External Affairs, explained in The Hill how the pro-housing movement spent years shifting the question from “how do we help people afford homes?” to “why are homes so expensive in the first place?” ROAD to Housing addresses that root cause by making it easier to build more homes.
That’s why supply advocates are celebrating this victory. Derek told Slow Boring the deal “delivers across the board.” He credited the bipartisan, bicameral negotiating process led by Senate Banking Chair Tim Scott and Ranking Member Elizabeth Warren, alongside House Financial Services Chair French Hill and Ranking Member Maxine Waters, who shepherded the bill through months of negotiations.
227 organizations joined our pro-housing coalition — which repeatedly pushed for the strongest possible bill and ultimately sent a final letter thanking Congress for working through its differences to pass it. Read our letter.
Other legislation we’re watching: The House passed a package of bills to streamline federal permitting for geothermal energy, including Rep. Celeste Maloy’s GEO Act and Rep. Jeff Hurd’s bill establishing a Geothermal Ombudsman and Task Force. We urged the Senate to act quickly; read Derek’s statement. He explained that an abundant energy future means unlocking every energy source we have — including geothermal, which has been held back by permitting rules that no longer make sense.
OUR GROWING TEAM
We’re hiring a Chief Operating Officer to help lead Inclusive Abundance’s next chapter.
Who we’re looking for: An experienced leader to manage our ops and events staff, coach our senior leadership team, and partner with Derek to drive performance, culture, and growth across the org. Applicants should have 10 – 20+ years of nonprofit ops, finance, and people management experience. Learn more and apply.
Inclusive Abundance made five new hires in recent months, as covered in Playbook.
We brought on government affairs experts to expand into new issue areas, including housing, child care, and workforce, as well as AI, government effectiveness, energy, and infrastructure. Each brings deep policy expertise and a commitment to advancing abundance and lowering costs for everyday Americans.
NEW POLLING: VOTERS ACROSS PARTY LINES SUPPORT PERMITTING REFORM
This month, we released the results of the largest poll we’ve ever commissioned — nearly 20,000 likely 2026 voters, surveyed by Blue Rose Research on energy costs and infrastructure.
As Congress debates how to fix our broken permitting processes, our team wanted to know if fixing our energy system is a winning issue. It is.
Top findings included:
Permitting reform has cross-partisan support. 60% of voters back making it faster and easier to build energy infrastructure, and by a 62-21 margin (including half of Trump voters) they say the President shouldn’t be able to unilaterally cancel a project once it clears review.
Affordability drives everything. 83% of voters are concerned about their electricity bills, and affordability is the most persuasive argument for energy reform, winning 66% of matchups.
Data center opposition is real, but addressable. 55% of voters oppose a data center in their community, driven primarily by concerns about costs and grid reliability. Companies that lead with a commitment to lower energy bills have a better shot at shifting the picture.
Read our full commentary on our Substack, or check out coverage in Heatmap News.
ABUNDANCE JOB OPENINGS
As momentum around Abundance grows, we’re spotlighting open roles across the ecosystem. If you know someone who wants to work on Abundance, forward them this newsletter. And if you have a role you’d like featured in the next issue, email lindsey@inclusiveabundance.org.
Up for Growth: Director, Policy & Advocacy | DC | $165,000+
Federation of American Scientists: Director, AI Policy | DC | $175,000 – $215,000
Bipartisan Policy Center Action: Associate Director, Government Operations & Economic Policy | DC | $110,000 – $130,000
Partnership for Public Service: Senior Manager, Public Policy & Stakeholder Engagement | DC | $95,000 – $125,000
NYU Furman Center: Data and Policy Associate, Housing Solutions Lab | NYC | $70,000 – $80,000
WHAT WE’RE READING AND WATCHING
A WelcomeFest panel on Building Centrist Abundance with Steve Teles, Rep. George Whitesides, Rep. Janelle Bynum, and our Head of Communications Brianna Johnson
Reuters on how stalled federal permits put $121 billion in wind and solar investment at risk
Idrees Kahloon in The Atlantic arguing how an emerging consumer socialism may fail in practice, when increasing the supply of housing and child care would actually lower costs
Brian Deese in The Washington Post on the blue-collar jobs boom AI is sparking — and the electricians, welders, and plumbers needed to sustain it
This newsletter is a product of Inclusive Abundance Action, our 501(c)(4).