Nydia Velazquez: Policy Positions
Nydia Velazquez's policy agenda has centered on small business development, Puerto Rico's political status and recovery, affordable housing, immigration reform, and financial regulation. Her positions have remained broadly consistent across her three decades in Congress, though the emphasis has shifted in response to events such as Hurricane Maria, the COVID-19 pandemic, and changes in federal immigration enforcement.
Small Business
As the longest-serving Democratic leader on the House Small Business Committee, which oversees federal programs and contracts totaling $200 billion annually, Velazquez has treated entrepreneurship policy as a vehicle for economic inclusion . She has championed expanded access to Small Business Administration lending programs, particularly the 7(a) loan program, and has pushed for greater federal contracting opportunities for minority-owned, women-owned, and veteran-owned businesses . During the COVID-19 pandemic, she played a central role in shaping the Paycheck Protection Program as Chairwoman of the Small Business Committee . She has consistently advocated for reducing regulatory burdens on small firms while simultaneously pushing for stronger oversight of SBA programs to prevent fraud, as reflected in legislation such as the PPP and Bank Fraud Enforcement Harmonization Act of 2022 . Her 2026 legislative activity has included bills addressing re-entry entrepreneurship counseling for incarcerated individuals and risk oversight of the 7(a) lending program 4.
Puerto Rico
Velazquez has been one of the most prominent congressional voices on Puerto Rico policy. On the island's political status, she has consistently advocated for self-determination through a locally driven process rather than congressional imposition of a specific outcome such as statehood . In December 2022, she supported the Puerto Rico Status Act, which defined non-territorial status options including statehood, independence, and free association, while characterizing the current territorial arrangement as fundamentally unfair . Her position has aligned broadly with Puerto Rico's Popular Democratic Party, which has historically favored enhanced commonwealth status .
On disaster recovery, Velazquez led congressional efforts to secure federal aid following Hurricane Maria in 2017, publicly criticizing both the Trump administration's response and FEMA's preparedness . She introduced the COUNT Victims Act to improve post-disaster fatality counting procedures and the National Commission of the Federal Response to Natural Disasters in Puerto Rico Act to investigate the federal response . She has also pushed FEMA to redirect disaster recovery funds toward renewable energy infrastructure on the island rather than rebuilding the existing fossil-fuel grid . On the island's fiscal crisis, she has called for discharging Puerto Rico's debt burden and has authored legislation to close conflict-of-interest loopholes in the PROMESA oversight framework, including the Puerto Rico Recovery Accuracy in Disclosures Act (PRRADA), which was enacted in 2022 .
Housing
Velazquez has been a persistent advocate for affordable housing, drawing on her position as the highest-ranking New Yorker on the Financial Services Committee's Housing Subcommittee . She has introduced the Public Housing Emergency Response Act, which called for $70 billion in capital repairs nationally with $32 billion directed to the New York City Housing Authority . She has also authored multiple versions of the Landlord Accountability Act to protect Section 8 tenants from landlord abuses . In 2025 and 2026, she secured provisions in the Housing for the 21st Century Act to recognize housing cooperatives as eligible entities for federal programs and to require court-appointed monitors at public housing authorities to report annually to Congress .
Immigration
Velazquez has positioned herself as a leading opponent of aggressive immigration enforcement. She authored the American Promise Act, which sought to prevent the deportation of beneficiaries of Temporary Protected Status and Deferred Enforced Departure . She has introduced private bills to protect individual immigrant activists, including legislation granting legal permanent status to Ravi Ragbir, a New York City immigration rights advocate detained by ICE . In 2025, she introduced the No Masks for ICE Act, which would prohibit Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from wearing facial coverings during enforcement actions and require them to display identifying information . She has led congressional delegations challenging ICE detention practices, convened roundtables with immigration legal advocates, and pushed for the New York for All Act at the state level .
Financial Regulation
As a senior member of the Financial Services Committee, Velazquez has supported stronger regulation of large financial institutions. She has urged regulators to finalize rules prohibiting executive compensation arrangements that incentivize reckless risk-taking . She supported the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 . She has opposed deregulatory measures that she has argued would disproportionately harm low-income communities and communities of color.
Trade and Tariffs
Velazquez has opposed tariff policies that she contends raise costs for consumers and small businesses. She criticized the Trump administration's 2025 tariffs on Canada and Mexico as a tax increase on working families .