Homes for Our Heroes Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2399 To provide for greater transparency in the HUD–VASH supported housing program for homeless veterans, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 30, 2019 Mr. PETERS (for himself, Mr. KATKO, Mr. LEVIN of California, Mr. HECK, Mr. CASE, Ms. SEWELL of Alabama, Ms. NORTON, Mr. VARGAS, Mr. ROUDA, Mr. PAPPAS, Mr. CISNEROS, and Mr. CARBAJAL) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider- ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To provide for greater transparency in the HUD–VASH supported housing program for homeless veterans, 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 ‘‘Homes for Our Heroes 4 Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS. 6 The Congress finds the following: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:16 May 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2399.IH H2399 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2399 IH (1) The Departments of Housing and Urban 1 Development (HUD) and Veterans Affairs (VA) 2 jointly support veterans experiencing homelessness 3 by providing permanent supportive housing. 4 (2) The HUD–VA Supportive Housing voucher 5 program (HUD–VASH) has successfully decreased 6 the number of homeless veterans. 7 (3) Since the establishment of the HUD–VASH 8 voucher program in 2008, more than 97,000 vouch- 9 ers have been awarded to public housing agencies 10 and more than 170,000 homeless veterans have been 11 provided with vouchers. 12 (4) The number of veterans experiencing home- 13 lessness has declined by over 30,000 since 2009, ac- 14 cording to data from the annual Point-in-Time 15 Homeless Count organized by HUD. 16 (5) Under the HUD–VASH program, veterans 17 benefit from affordable housing and matching sup- 18 portive services, such as mental health treatment, 19 substance use counseling, and employment training. 20 (6) In the past year, some regions of the Nation 21 have seen an increase in the numbers of veterans ex- 22 periencing homelessness, particularly in high-cost 23 housing markets where housing is becoming less af- 24 fordable. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:16 May 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2399.IH H2399 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2399 IH (7) HUD and VA allocate vouchers under the 1 HUD–VASH program based on need, but do not 2 disclose the formula that determines the allocation 3 of vouchers. 4 SEC. 3. REPORTS. 5 (a) HUD.— 6 (1) ANNUAL REPORTS.—Paragraph (19) of sec- 7 tion 8(o) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 8 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)(19)) is amended by adding at 9 the end the following new subparagraph: 10 ‘‘(D) ANNUAL REPORTS.— 11 ‘‘(i) INFORMATION REQUIRED.—Not 12 later than the expiration of the 12-month 13 period beginning on the date of the enact- 14 ment of this subparagraph and not less 15 often than annually thereafter, the Sec- 16 retary shall submit to the Congress, as 17 provided in clause (ii), and make publicly 18 available, information identifying for the 19 preceding year— 20 ‘‘(I) the public housing agencies, 21 in partnership with the medical cen- 22 ters of the Department of Veterans 23 Affairs, for which vouchers for rental 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:16 May 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2399.IH H2399 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2399 IH assistance under this paragraph were 1 allocated; and 2 ‘‘(II) the number of such vouch- 3 ers allocated, disaggregated by the 4 tenant-based vouchers and project- 5 based vouchers, as awarded by the 6 Department of Housing and Urban 7 Development. 8 ‘‘(ii) JOINT REPORT.—The informa- 9 tion required under clause (I) shall be sub- 10 mitted— 11 ‘‘(I) in a joint report by the Sec- 12 retary and the Secretary of Veterans 13 Affairs, together with the information 14 for such year required to be submitted 15 under section 2003(c) of title 38, 16 United States Code; and 17 ‘‘(II) to the Committees on Fi- 18 nancial Services and Veterans’ Affairs 19 of the House of Representatives and 20 the Committees on Banking, Housing, 21 and Urban Affairs and Veterans’ Af- 22 fairs of the Senate.’’. 23 (2) REPORT ON HISTORICAL DATA.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:16 May 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2399.IH H2399 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2399 IH (A) INFORMATION REQUIRED.—Not later 1 than the expiration of the 90-day period begin- 2 ning on the date of the enactment of this Act, 3 the Secretary of Housing and Urban Develop- 4 ment shall submit to the Congress, as provided 5 in subparagraph (B), and make publicly avail- 6 able, for each of fiscal years 2014 through 2019 7 to the greatest extent possible the information 8 described in subclauses (I) and (II) of section 9 8(o)(19)(D)(i) of the United States Housing 10 Act of 1937, as added by the amendment made 11 by paragraph (1) of this subsection. 12 (B) JOINT REPORT.—The information re- 13 quired under subparagraph (A) shall be sub- 14 mitted— 15 (i) in a joint report by the Secretary 16 and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, to- 17 gether with the information required to be 18 submitted under subsection (b)(2) of this 19 section; and 20 (ii) to the Committees on Financial 21 Services and Veterans’ Affairs of the 22 House of Representatives and the Commit- 23 tees on Banking, Housing, and Urban Af- 24 fairs and Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:16 May 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2399.IH H2399 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2399 IH (b) VA.— 1 (1) ANNUAL REPORTS.—Section 2003 of title 2 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at 3 the end the following new subsection: 4 ‘‘(c) ANNUAL REPORTS ON CASE MANAGEMENT 5 FUNDING.— 6 ‘‘(1) INFORMATION REQUIRED.—Not later than 7 the expiration of the 6-month period beginning on 8 the date of the enactment of this subsection and not 9 less often than annually thereafter, the Secretary 10 shall submit to the Congress, as provided in para- 11 graph (2), and make publicly available, information 12 identifying for the preceding year— 13 ‘‘(A) the medical centers of the Depart- 14 ment of Veterans Affairs to which funds were 15 provided pursuant to subsection (b) of this sec- 16 tion for providing case managers under the sup- 17 ported housing program carried out by the Sec- 18 retary, in conjunction with the Department of 19 Housing and Urban Development, pursuant to 20 section 8(o)(19) of the United States Housing 21 Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)(19)); 22 ‘‘(B) the eligible entities with which the 23 Secretary of Veterans Affairs contracted to pro- 24 vide case management services under such sup- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:16 May 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2399.IH H2399 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 2399 IH ported housing program pursuant to section 1 304 of the Honoring America’s Veterans and 2 Caring for Camp Lejeune Families Act of 2012 3 (38 U.S.C. 2041 note); 4 ‘‘(C) for each such medical center and eli- 5 gible entity, the number of full-time positions 6 provided by such funding; 7 ‘‘(D) for caseworkers providing such case 8 management services, the average number of 9 veterans on the caseload for a caseworker; 10 ‘‘(E) the number of individuals who return 11 to the supported housing program after leaving 12 it; 13 ‘‘(F) the number of recipients of housing 14 assistance vouchers under the supported hous- 15 ing program by gender; and 16 ‘‘(G) the number of such voucher recipi- 17 ents by service era. 18 ‘‘(2) JOINT REPORT.—The information required 19 under paragraph (1) shall be submitted— 20 ‘‘(A) in a joint report by the Secretary and 21 the Secretary of Housing and Urban Develop- 22 ment, together with the information for such 23 year required to be submitted under section 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:16 May 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2399.IH H2399 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 2399 IH 8(o)(19)(D) of the United States Housing Act 1 of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)(19)(D)); and 2 ‘‘(B) to the Committees on Veterans’ Af- 3 fairs and Financial Services of the House of 4 Representatives and the Committees on Vet- 5 erans’ Affairs and Banking, Housing, and 6 Urban Affairs of the Senate’’. 7 (2) REPORT ON HISTORICAL DATA.— 8 (A) INFORMATION REQUIRED.—Not later 9 than the expiration of the 6-month period be- 10 ginning on the date of the enactment of this 11 Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall 12 submit to the Congress, as provided in subpara- 13 graph (B), and make publicly available, for 14 each of fiscal years 2014 through 2019 to the 15 greatest extent possible the information de- 16 scribed in subparagraphs (A) through (G) of 17 section 2003(c)(1) of title 38, United States 18 Code, as added by the amendment made by 19 paragraph (1) of this subsection. 20 (B) JOINT REPORT.—The information re- 21 quired under subparagraph (A) shall be sub- 22 mitted— 23 (i) in a joint report by the Secretary 24 and the Secretary of Housing and Urban 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:16 May 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2399.IH H2399 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 2399 IH Development, together with the informa- 1 tion required to be submitted under sub- 2 section (a)(2) of this section; and 3 (ii) to the Committees on Financial 4 Services and Veterans’ Affairs of the 5 House of Representatives and the Commit- 6 tees on Banking, Housing, and Urban Af- 7 fairs and Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate. 8 SEC. 4. STUDY OF BARRIERS TO ADMINISTRATION IN HIGH 9 HOUSING COST AREAS. 10 (a) STUDY.—The Secretaries of Housing and Urban 11 Development and Veterans Affairs, in consultation with 12 the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, 13 shall jointly conduct a study to identify barriers to car- 14 rying out the HUD–VASH supported housing program 15 under section 8(o)(19) of the United States Housing Act 16 of 1937 in areas having high housing costs. Such study 17 shall— 18 (1) be carried out with respect to not less than 19 15 housing market areas used for purposes of fair 20 market rents established under the rental assistance 21 program under section 8 of the United States Hous- 22 ing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f), as selected by 23 such Secretaries, that— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:16 May 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2399.IH H2399 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 2399 IH (A) have high rates of veterans experi- 1 encing homelessness, as identified by the Sec- 2 retary of Housing and Urban Development; 3 (B) have high housing costs, as identified 4 by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Devel- 5 opment; 6 (C) have at least one public housing agen- 7 cy and one medical center of the Department of 8 Veterans Affairs located within the area; and 9 (D) include housing market areas for 10 which fair market rents are calculated using the 11 Small Area Fair Market Rents and include 12 housing areas that are not calculated using 13 such rents; 14 (2) for each housing market area covered by the 15 study, collect data with respect to only one public 16 housing agency and one medical center of the De- 17 partment of Veterans Affairs located in the area; 18 and 19 (3) identify for such high housing cost areas— 20 (A) the average amount of time elapsed be- 21 tween a veteran receiving a voucher for rental 22 assistance under the program and signing a 23 lease for a residence to be assisted using such 24 voucher; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:16 May 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2399.IH H2399 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 2399 IH (B) administrative burdens to the use of 1 project-based voucher assistance under such 2 program, including any State and local regula- 3 tions that make project-based vouchers more 4 difficult to use; 5 (C) ways in which public housing agencies 6 leverage private resources with public funds 7 under such program and difficulties developers 8 may experience under such program in the use 9 of project-based vouchers; 10 (D) how public housing agencies and med- 11 ical centers of the Department of Veterans Af- 12 fairs define the term ‘‘unused vouchers’’; 13 (E) the process for reallocation of any such 14 unused vouchers; and 15 (F) any best practices for administration 16 of vouchers under the program in such high 17 housing cost areas. 18 (b) REPORT.—Not later than the expiration of the 19 12-month period beginning on the date of the enactment 20 of this Act, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Develop- 21 ment and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall jointly 22 submit to the Congress a report setting forth the findings 23 of the study under subsection (a) and any recommenda- 24 tions resulting from such study. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:16 May 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2399.IH H2399 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 2399 IH SEC. 5. APPEARANCES BEFORE CONGRESS. 1 Not later than the expiration of the 90-day period 2 beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act, the 3 Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and the 4 Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall each appear before the 5 Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Rep- 6 resentatives and the Senate to provide information regard- 7 ing— 8 (1) the formula used to allocate vouchers for 9 rental assistance under the HUD–VASH supported 10 housing program under section 8(o)(19) of the 11 United States Housing Act of 1937 among medical 12 centers of the Department of Veterans Affairs; 13 (2) how such Secretaries use existing data, in- 14 cluding requests from medical facilities of the De- 15 partment of Veterans Affairs and partnering public 16 housing agencies and voucher utilization rates, to 17 make allocation determinations; and 18 (3) which functions and calculations are made 19 by the Department of Veterans Affairs and which 20 are made by Department of Housing and Urban De- 21 velopment, in making such allocations. 22 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:16 May 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2399.IH H2399 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS