Tribal HUD–VASH Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2999 To provide for rental assistance for homeless or at-risk Indian veterans, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 23, 2019 Mr. LUJA´N (for himself, Mr. YOUNG, Mr. RUIZ, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. DELBENE, Mr. COLE, and Ms. MCCOLLUM) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services A BILL To provide for rental assistance for homeless or at-risk Indian 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 ‘‘Tribal HUD–VASH 4 Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. RENTAL ASSISTANCE FOR HOMELESS OR AT-RISK 6 INDIAN VETERANS. 7 Section 8(o)(19) of the United States Housing Act 8 of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)(19)) is amended by adding 9 at the end the following: 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:07 Jun 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2999.IH H2999 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2999 IH ‘‘(D) INDIAN VETERANS HOUSING RENTAL 1 ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.— 2 ‘‘(i) DEFINITIONS.—In this subpara- 3 graph: 4 ‘‘(I) ELIGIBLE INDIAN VET- 5 ERAN.—The term ‘eligible Indian vet- 6 eran’ means an Indian veteran who 7 is— 8 ‘‘(aa) homeless or at risk of 9 homelessness; and 10 ‘‘(bb) living— 11 ‘‘(AA) on or near a res- 12 ervation; or 13 ‘‘(BB) in or near any 14 other Indian area. 15 ‘‘(II) ELIGIBLE RECIPIENT.— 16 The term ‘eligible recipient’ means a 17 recipient eligible to receive a grant 18 under section 101 of the Native 19 American Housing Assistance and 20 Self-Determination Act of 1996 (25 21 U.S.C. 4111). 22 ‘‘(III) INDIAN; INDIAN AREA.— 23 The terms ‘Indian’ and ‘Indian area’ 24 have the meanings given those terms 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:07 Jun 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2999.IH H2999 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2999 IH in section 4 of the Native American 1 Housing Assistance and Self-Deter- 2 mination Act of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 3 4103). 4 ‘‘(IV) INDIAN VETERAN.—The 5 term ‘Indian veteran’ means an In- 6 dian who is a veteran. 7 ‘‘(V) PROGRAM.—The term ‘Pro- 8 gram’ means the Tribal HUD–VASH 9 program carried out under clause (ii). 10 ‘‘(VI) TRIBAL ORGANIZATION.— 11 The term ‘tribal organization’ has the 12 meaning given the term in section 4 13 of the Indian Self-Determination and 14 Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 15 5304). 16 ‘‘(ii) PROGRAM SPECIFICATIONS.— 17 The Secretary shall use not less than 5 18 percent of the amounts made available for 19 rental assistance under this paragraph to 20 carry out a rental assistance and sup- 21 ported housing program, to be known as 22 the ‘Tribal HUD–VASH program’, in con- 23 junction with the Secretary of Veterans Af- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:07 Jun 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2999.IH H2999 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2999 IH fairs, by awarding grants for the benefit of 1 eligible Indian veterans. 2 ‘‘(iii) MODEL.— 3 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Except as 4 provided in subclause (II), the Sec- 5 retary shall model the Program on the 6 rental assistance and supported hous- 7 ing program authorized under sub- 8 paragraph (A) and applicable appro- 9 priations Acts, including administra- 10 tion in conjunction with the Secretary 11 of Veterans Affairs. 12 ‘‘(II) EXCEPTIONS.— 13 ‘‘(aa) SECRETARY OF HOUS- 14 ING AND URBAN DEVELOP- 15 MENT.—After consultation with 16 Indian tribes, eligible recipients, 17 and any other appropriate tribal 18 organizations, the Secretary may 19 make necessary and appropriate 20 modifications to facilitate the use 21 of the Program by eligible recipi- 22 ents to serve eligible Indian vet- 23 erans. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:07 Jun 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2999.IH H2999 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2999 IH ‘‘(bb) SECRETARY OF VET- 1 ERANS AFFAIRS.—After consulta- 2 tion with Indian tribes, eligible 3 recipients, and any other appro- 4 priate tribal organizations, the 5 Secretary of Veterans Affairs 6 may make necessary and appro- 7 priate modifications to facilitate 8 the use of the Program by eligi- 9 ble recipients to serve eligible In- 10 dian veterans. 11 ‘‘(iv) ELIGIBLE RECIPIENTS.—The 12 Secretary shall make amounts for rental 13 assistance and associated administrative 14 costs under the Program available in the 15 form of grants to eligible recipients. 16 ‘‘(v) FUNDING CRITERIA.—The Sec- 17 retary shall award grants under the Pro- 18 gram based on— 19 ‘‘(I) need; 20 ‘‘(II) administrative capacity; and 21 ‘‘(III) any other funding criteria 22 established by the Secretary in a no- 23 tice published in the Federal Register 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:07 Jun 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2999.IH H2999 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2999 IH after consulting with the Secretary of 1 Veterans Affairs. 2 ‘‘(vi) ADMINISTRATION.—Grants 3 awarded under the Program shall be ad- 4 ministered in accordance with the Native 5 American Housing Assistance and Self-De- 6 termination Act of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 4101 7 et seq.), except that recipients shall— 8 ‘‘(I) submit to the Secretary, in a 9 manner prescribed by the Secretary, 10 reports on the utilization of rental as- 11 sistance provided under the Program; 12 and 13 ‘‘(II) provide to the Secretary in- 14 formation specified by the Secretary 15 to assess the effectiveness of the Pro- 16 gram in serving eligible Indian vet- 17 erans. 18 ‘‘(vii) CONSULTATION.— 19 ‘‘(I) GRANT RECIPIENTS; TRIBAL 20 ORGANIZATIONS.—The Secretary, in 21 coordination with the Secretary of 22 Veterans Affairs, shall consult with el- 23 igible recipients and any other appro- 24 priate tribal organization on the de- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:07 Jun 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2999.IH H2999 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 2999 IH sign of the Program to ensure the ef- 1 fective delivery of rental assistance 2 and supportive services to eligible In- 3 dian veterans under the Program. 4 ‘‘(II) INDIAN HEALTH SERV- 5 ICE.—The Director of the Indian 6 Health Service shall provide any as- 7 sistance requested by the Secretary or 8 the Secretary of Veterans Affairs in 9 carrying out the Program. 10 ‘‘(viii) WAIVER.— 11 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Except as 12 provided in subclause (II), the Sec- 13 retary may waive or specify alter- 14 native requirements for any provision 15 of law (including regulations) that the 16 Secretary administers in connection 17 with the use of rental assistance made 18 available under the Program if the 19 Secretary finds that the waiver or al- 20 ternative requirement is necessary for 21 the effective delivery and administra- 22 tion of rental assistance under the 23 Program to eligible Indian veterans. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:07 Jun 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2999.IH H2999 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 2999 IH ‘‘(II) EXCEPTION.—The Sec- 1 retary may not waive or specify alter- 2 native requirements under subclause 3 (I) for any provision of law (including 4 regulations) relating to labor stand- 5 ards or the environment. 6 ‘‘(ix) RENEWAL GRANTS.—The Sec- 7 retary may— 8 ‘‘(I) set aside, from amounts 9 made available for tenant-based rental 10 assistance under this subsection and 11 without regard to the amounts used 12 for new grants under clause (ii), such 13 amounts as may be necessary to 14 award renewal grants to eligible re- 15 cipients that received a grant under 16 the Program in a previous year; and 17 ‘‘(II) specify criteria that an eli- 18 gible recipient must satisfy to receive 19 a renewal grant under subclause (I), 20 including providing data on how the 21 eligible recipient used the amounts of 22 any grant previously received under 23 the Program. 24 ‘‘(x) REPORTING.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:07 Jun 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2999.IH H2999 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 2999 IH ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Not later 1 than 1 year after the date of enact- 2 ment of the Tribal HUD–VASH Act 3 of 2019, and every 5 years thereafter, 4 the Secretary, in coordination with the 5 Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the 6 Director of the Indian Health Service, 7 shall— 8 ‘‘(aa) conduct a review of 9 the implementation of the Pro- 10 gram, including any factors that 11 may have limited its success; and 12 ‘‘(bb) submit a report de- 13 scribing the results of the review 14 under item (aa) to— 15 ‘‘(AA) the Committee 16 on Indian Affairs, the Com- 17 mittee on Banking, Housing, 18 and Urban Affairs, the 19 Committee on Veterans’ Af- 20 fairs, and the Committee on 21 Appropriations of the Sen- 22 ate; and 23 ‘‘(BB) the Sub- 24 committee on Indian, Insu- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:07 Jun 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2999.IH H2999 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 2999 IH lar and Alaska Native Af- 1 fairs of the Committee on 2 Natural Resources, the 3 Committee on Financial 4 Services, the Committee on 5 Veterans’ Affairs, and the 6 Committee on Appropria- 7 tions of the House of Rep- 8 resentatives. 9 ‘‘(II) ANALYSIS OF HOUSING 10 STOCK LIMITATION.—The Secretary 11 shall include in the initial report sub- 12 mitted under subclause (I) a descrip- 13 tion of— 14 ‘‘(aa) any regulations gov- 15 erning the use of formula current 16 assisted stock (as defined in sec- 17 tion 1000.314 of title 24, Code of 18 Federal Regulations (or any suc- 19 cessor regulation)) within the 20 Program; 21 ‘‘(bb) the number of recipi- 22 ents of grants under the Pro- 23 gram that have reported the reg- 24 ulations described in item (aa) as 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:07 Jun 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2999.IH H2999 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 2999 IH a barrier to implementation of 1 the Program; and 2 ‘‘(cc) proposed alternative 3 legislation or regulations devel- 4 oped by the Secretary in con- 5 sultation with recipients of 6 grants under the Program to 7 allow the use of formula current 8 assisted stock within the Pro- 9 gram.’’. 10 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:07 Jun 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2999.IH H2999 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS