Liberty City Rising Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3457 To reform the requirements regarding the safety and security of families living in public and federally assisted housing in high-crime areas. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 20, 2021 Ms. WILSON of Florida introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services A BILL To reform the requirements regarding the safety and security of families living in public and federally assisted housing in high-crime areas. 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 ‘‘Liberty City Rising 4 Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. SAFETY STANDARDS FOR FEDERALLY ASSISTED 6 HOUSING IN HIGH-CRIME AREAS. 7 (a) PUBLIC HOUSING.—Section 6(f)(2) of the United 8 States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437d(f)(2)) is 9 amended— 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:13 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3457.IH H3457 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3457 IH (1) by striking ‘‘The Secretary shall’’ and in- 1 serting the following: 2 ‘‘(A) SAFE AND HABITABLE.—The Sec- 3 retary shall’’; and 4 (2) by adding at the end the following: 5 ‘‘(B) HIGH-CRIME AREAS.— 6 ‘‘(i) DEFINITION.—In this subpara- 7 graph, the term ‘high-crime area’ means a 8 neighborhood or other small geographic 9 area that the Secretary determines has a 10 high incidence of violent crime, based on 11 the most recent violent crime data avail- 12 able from a State, unit of local govern- 13 ment, or other source determined appro- 14 priate by the Secretary, that lists the types 15 of crimes and number of offenses com- 16 mitted in the area. 17 ‘‘(ii) ADDITIONAL SAFETY AND SECU- 18 RITY STANDARDS.—In addition to the 19 standards under subparagraph (A), the 20 Secretary shall establish standards to en- 21 sure the safety and security of dwellings 22 located in a high-crime area. 23 ‘‘(iii) CONTENTS.—The standards es- 24 tablished under clause (ii)— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:13 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3457.IH H3457 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3457 IH ‘‘(I) shall require a public hous- 1 ing agency to consider security meas- 2 ures that meet the specific needs of a 3 property or building; and 4 ‘‘(II) may include requirements 5 related to security cameras, locks, 6 lighting, or other security measures. 7 ‘‘(iv) ANONYMOUS HOTLINE.—A pub- 8 lic housing agency that operates a public 9 housing project in a high-crime area shall 10 establish an anonymous hotline for tenants 11 to report suspicious activity and crimes 12 that occur in the community in which the 13 public housing project is located.’’. 14 (b) PROJECT-BASED ASSISTED HOUSING.— 15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 8(o)(13) of the 16 United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 17 1437f(o)(13)) is amended by adding at the end the 18 following: 19 ‘‘(P) SAFETY AND SECURITY STANDARDS 20 FOR HIGH-CRIME AREAS.— 21 ‘‘(i) DEFINITION.—In this subpara- 22 graph, the term ‘high-crime area’ means a 23 neighborhood or other small geographic 24 area that the Secretary determines has a 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:13 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3457.IH H3457 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3457 IH high incidence of violent crime, based on 1 the most recent violent crime data avail- 2 able from a State, unit of local govern- 3 ment, or other source determined appro- 4 priate by the Secretary, that lists the types 5 of crimes and number of offenses com- 6 mitted in the area. 7 ‘‘(ii) CONTRACT REQUIREMENT.—An 8 assistance contract for project-based assist- 9 ance entered into under this paragraph 10 with respect to a structure shall require 11 that the owner maintain the structure, if 12 determined to be in a high-crime area, in 13 a condition that complies with standards 14 that meet or exceed the safety and security 15 standards established under clause (iii). 16 ‘‘(iii) SAFETY AND SECURITY STAND- 17 ARDS.—The Secretary shall establish 18 standards to ensure the safety and security 19 of structures located in a high-crime area. 20 ‘‘(iv) CONTENTS.—The standards es- 21 tablished under clause (iii)— 22 ‘‘(I) shall require the owner of a 23 structure that receives project-based 24 assistance under this paragraph to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:13 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3457.IH H3457 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3457 IH consider security measures that meet 1 the specific needs of the structure; 2 and 3 ‘‘(II) may include requirements 4 related to security cameras, locks, 5 lighting, or other security measures. 6 ‘‘(v) INSPECTIONS.—When deter- 7 mining whether a dwelling unit that is in 8 a high-crime area meets the housing qual- 9 ity standards under paragraph (8)(A), a 10 public housing agency shall also determine 11 whether the dwelling unit meets the stand- 12 ards established under this subparagraph. 13 ‘‘(vi) ANONYMOUS HOTLINE.—A pub- 14 lic housing agency that provides project- 15 based assistance under this paragraph with 16 respect to a structure in a high-crime area 17 shall establish an anonymous hotline for 18 tenants to report suspicious activity and 19 crimes that occur in the community in 20 which the structure is located.’’. 21 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 22 8(d)(2) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 23 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(d)(2)) is amended by adding at 24 the end the following: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:13 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3457.IH H3457 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3457 IH ‘‘(E)(i) Subsection (o)(13)(P) (relating to safety and 1 security standards for high-crime areas) shall apply to a 2 contract for project-based assistance under this paragraph 3 and to a public housing agency that enters into such a 4 contract. 5 ‘‘(ii) When determining whether a structure assisted 6 under this paragraph that is in a high-crime area, as de- 7 fined in subsection (o)(13)(P), meets any applicable hous- 8 ing quality standards, a public housing agency shall also 9 determine whether the structure meets the safety and se- 10 curity standards established under that subsection.’’. 11 (c) DEADLINES.— 12 (1) DETERMINATION OF HIGH-CRIME AREAS.— 13 Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment 14 of this Act, the Secretary of Housing and Urban De- 15 velopment shall make an initial determination as to 16 which areas of the United States are high-crime 17 areas for purposes of sections 6(f)(2)(B), 18 8(d)(2)(E), and 8(o)(13)(P) of the United States 19 Housing Act of 1937, as added by this section. 20 (2) SAFETY AND SECURITY STANDARDS.—Not 21 later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this 22 Act, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Develop- 23 ment shall establish the safety and security stand- 24 ards for public housing projects and other assisted 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:13 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3457.IH H3457 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3457 IH structures located in high-crime areas required 1 under sections 6(f)(2)(B), 8(d)(2)(E), and 2 8(o)(13)(P) of the United States Housing Act of 3 1937, as added by this section. 4 SEC. 3. GRANT PRIORITY FOR PUBLIC HOUSING PROJECTS 5 IN HIGH-CRIME AREAS. 6 Section 9(d) of the United States Housing Act of 7 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437g(d)) is amended by adding at the 8 end the following: 9 ‘‘(4) EMERGENCY SAFETY AND SECURITY 10 FUNDING PRIORITY FOR HIGH-CRIME AREAS.—In 11 awarding grants for safety and security measures 12 using amounts from the Capital Fund, the Secretary 13 shall give priority to an application from a public 14 housing agency that proposes to use the grant for a 15 public housing project located in a high-crime area 16 (as defined in section 6(f)(2)(B)).’’. 17 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:13 Jun 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3457.IH H3457 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS