Fair Housing Enforcement Emergency Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1674 To authorize assistance for fair housing enforcement activities to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 9, 2021 Mr. GREEN of Texas (for himself and Ms. WATERS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subse- quently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To authorize assistance for fair housing enforcement activi- ties to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fair Housing Enforce- 4 ment Emergency Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. FAIR HOUSING ACTIVITIES. 6 (a) DEFINITION OF COVID-19 EMERGENCY PE- 7 RIOD.—For purposes of this section, the term ‘‘COVID- 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:26 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1674.IH H1674 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1674 IH 19 emergency period’’ means the period that begins upon 1 the date of the enactment of this Act and ends upon the 2 date of the termination by the Federal Emergency Man- 3 agement Agency of the emergency declared on March 13, 4 2020, by the President under the Robert T. Stafford Dis- 5 aster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 6 4121 et seq.) relating to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 7 (COVID-19) pandemic. 8 (b) FHIP; FHAP.— 9 (1) APPROPRIATIONS.—Out of any money in 10 the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, there is 11 appropriated to ensure that fair housing organiza- 12 tions and State and local civil rights agencies have 13 sufficient resources to deal with expected increases 14 in fair housing complaints, to investigate housing 15 discrimination, including financial scams that target 16 protected classes, associated with or resulting from 17 the COVID-19 pandemic, and during such pan- 18 demic, for contracts, grants, and other assistance— 19 (A) $39,740,000 for fiscal year 2021 for 20 the Fair Housing Initiatives Program under 21 section 561 of the Housing and Community De- 22 velopment Act of 1987 (42 U.S.C. 3616a), of 23 which— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:26 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1674.IH H1674 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1674 IH (i) $8,740,000 shall be available for 1 assistance under subsection (d) of such 2 section 561 for education and outreach ac- 3 tivities; 4 (ii) $18,500,000 shall be available for 5 private enforcement initiatives under sub- 6 section (b) of such section 561; 7 (iii) $2,500,000 shall be available for 8 an initiative to provide technical assistance 9 and training to such organizations and en- 10 tities regarding fair housing issues related 11 to the COVID-19 pandemic; and 12 (iv) $10,000,000, which shall remain 13 available until September 30, 2024, shall 14 be available for the Office of Fair Housing 15 and Equal Opportunity of the Department 16 of Housing and Urban Development to 17 carry out a national media campaign to 18 educate the public of increased housing 19 rights during COVID-19 emergency period, 20 that provides that information and mate- 21 rials used in such campaign are avail- 22 able— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:26 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1674.IH H1674 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1674 IH (I) in the languages used by com- 1 munities with limited English pro- 2 ficiency; and 3 (II) to persons with disabilities. 4 (B) $35,000,000 for fiscal year 2021 for 5 the Fair Housing Assistance Program under 6 the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3601 et seq.). 7 (2) USE OF TELEPHONE AND INTERNET CAPA- 8 BILITIES.—Amounts made available by paragraph 9 (1) may be used by such organizations and agencies 10 to establish the capacity to and to carry out activi- 11 ties and services by telephone and online means, in- 12 cluding for individuals with limited English pro- 13 ficiency and individuals with a disability in accord- 14 ance with requirements under the Americans With 15 Disabilities Act of 1990. 16 (3) PRIORITY FOR PRIVATE ENFORCEMENT INI- 17 TIATIVES AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—In entering 18 into contracts for private enforcement initiatives 19 under 561(b) of the Housing and Community Devel- 20 opment Act of 1987 (42 U.S.C. 3616a(b)) using 21 amounts made available by paragraph (1)(A)(ii) of 22 this subsection and contracts for technical assistance 23 and training using amounts made available by para- 24 graph (1)(A)(iii), the Secretary of Housing and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:26 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1674.IH H1674 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1674 IH Urban Development shall give priority to applica- 1 tions from qualified fair housing enforcement organi- 2 zations that have at least 2 years of fair housing 3 testing experience. 4 (4) 3-YEAR GRANTS.—A grant for any grantee 5 from any amounts made available by clause (i), (ii), 6 or (iii) of paragraph (1)(A) shall be made for a 3- 7 year period, subject to the request of the grantee, 8 and the grantee shall receive an allocation of such 9 grant amounts annually during such 3-year period. 10 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:26 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1674.IH H1674 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS