Housing, Opportunity, Mobility, and Equity Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2684 To require Community Development Block Grant and Surface Transportation Block Grant recipients to develop a strategy to support inclusive zoning policies, to allow for a credit to support housing affordability, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES OCTOBER 23, 2019 Mr. BOOKER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance A BILL To require Community Development Block Grant and Sur- face Transportation Block Grant recipients to develop a strategy to support inclusive zoning policies, to allow for a credit to support housing affordability, 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 ‘‘Housing, Opportunity, 4 Mobility, and Equity Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:53 Oct 26, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2684.IS S2684 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 2684 IS SEC. 2. REQUIREMENT FOR CDBG GRANTEES. 1 Section 104 of the Housing and Community Develop- 2 ment Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5304) is amended by adding 3 at the end the following: 4 ‘‘(n) STRATEGY TO INCREASE THE AFFORDABLE 5 HOUSING STOCK.— 6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each grantee receiving as- 7 sistance under this title shall— 8 ‘‘(A) include in the consolidated plan re- 9 quired under part 91 of title 24, Code of Fed- 10 eral Regulations (or any successor thereto), a 11 strategy to support new inclusive zoning poli- 12 cies, programs, or regulatory initiatives that 13 create a more affordable, elastic, and diverse 14 housing supply and thereby increase economic 15 growth and access to jobs and housing; and 16 ‘‘(B) implement the strategy described in 17 subparagraph (A) and demonstrate continuous 18 progress in advancing the goals described in 19 section (2)(A), and include that implementation 20 and progress in the annual performance report 21 submitted under section 91.520 of title 24, 22 Code of Federal Regulations (or any successor 23 thereto). 24 ‘‘(2) INCLUSIONS.—The strategy under para- 25 graph (1) shall— 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:53 Oct 26, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2684.IS S2684 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 2684 IS ‘‘(A) demonstrate— 1 ‘‘(i) transformative activities in com- 2 munities that— 3 ‘‘(I) reduce barriers to housing 4 development, including affordable 5 housing; and 6 ‘‘(II) increase housing supply af- 7 fordability and elasticity; and 8 ‘‘(ii) strong connections between hous- 9 ing, transportation, and workforce plan- 10 ning; 11 ‘‘(B) include, as appropriate, policies relat- 12 ing to inclusive land use, such as— 13 ‘‘(i) for the purpose of adding afford- 14 able units, increasing both the percentage 15 and absolute number of affordable units— 16 ‘‘(I) authorizing high-density and 17 multifamily zoning; 18 ‘‘(II) eliminating off-street park- 19 ing requirements; 20 ‘‘(III) establishing density bo- 21 nuses, defined as increases in per- 22 mitted density of a housing develop- 23 ment conditioned upon the inclusion 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:53 Oct 26, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2684.IS S2684 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 2684 IS of affordable housing in the develop- 1 ment; 2 ‘‘(IV) streamlining or shortening 3 permitting processes and timelines; 4 ‘‘(V) removing height limitations; 5 ‘‘(VI) establishing by-right devel- 6 opment, defined as the elimination of 7 discretionary review processes when 8 zoning standards are met; 9 ‘‘(VII) using property tax abate- 10 ments; and 11 ‘‘(VIII) relaxing lot size restric- 12 tions; 13 ‘‘(ii) prohibiting source of income dis- 14 crimination; 15 ‘‘(iii) taxing vacant land or donating 16 vacant land to nonprofit developers; 17 ‘‘(iv) allowing accessory dwelling 18 units; 19 ‘‘(v) establishing development tax or 20 value capture incentives; and 21 ‘‘(vi) prohibiting landlords from ask- 22 ing prospective tenants for their criminal 23 history; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:53 Oct 26, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2684.IS S2684 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 2684 IS ‘‘(C) provide that affordable housing units 1 should, to the maximum extent practicable, and 2 unless alternate policies would result in more 3 rapid progress toward and achievement of the 4 goals described in subparagraph (A)— 5 ‘‘(i) be designated as affordable for 6 the useful life of the units; 7 ‘‘(ii) require that a proportion of the 8 new housing stock in the community is at 9 least as great as the percentage of the pop- 10 ulation of the community requiring such 11 units in order to not be an eligible indi- 12 vidual under section 36A of the Internal 13 Revenue Code; and 14 ‘‘(iii) be accessible to the population 15 served by the program established under 16 this title; and 17 ‘‘(D) where applicable, specify how the 18 strategy will increase affordable housing options 19 for individuals living in— 20 ‘‘(i) rural areas; 21 ‘‘(ii) persistent poverty counties, de- 22 fined as any county with a poverty rate of 23 not less than 20 percent, as determined in 24 each of the 1990 and 2000 decennial cen- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:53 Oct 26, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2684.IS S2684 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 2684 IS suses, and in the Small Area Income and 1 Poverty Estimates by the Bureau of the 2 Census for the most recent year for which 3 the estimates are available; and 4 ‘‘(iii) high-poverty areas, defined as 5 any census tract with a poverty rate of not 6 less than 20 percent as measured by the 7 2013–2017 5-year data series available 8 from the American Community Survey of 9 the Bureau of the Census.’’. 10 SEC. 3. REQUIREMENT FOR SURFACE TRANSPORTATION 11 BLOCK GRANT PROGRAM. 12 Section 133 of title 23, United States Code, is 13 amended— 14 (1) by redesignating subsection (i) as subsection 15 (j); and 16 (2) by inserting after subsection (h) the fol- 17 lowing: 18 ‘‘(i) IMPLEMENTATION OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING 19 STRATEGY.—A project under this section may not be car- 20 ried out unless the community in which the project is lo- 21 cated has implemented a strategy to increase affordable 22 housing stock as described in subsection (n) of section 104 23 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 24 (42 U.S.C. 5304).’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:53 Oct 26, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2684.IS S2684 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •S 2684 IS SEC. 4. REFUNDABLE CREDIT FOR RENT COSTS OF ELIGI- 1 BLE INDIVIDUALS. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart C of part IV of sub- 3 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 4 1986 is amended by inserting after section 36 the fol- 5 lowing new section: 6 ‘‘SEC. 36A. RENT COSTS OF ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUALS. 7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an eligible indi- 8 vidual, there shall be allowed as a credit against the tax 9 imposed by this subtitle for the taxable year an amount 10 equal to the excess of— 11 ‘‘(1) the lesser of— 12 ‘‘(A) the small area fair market rent (or, 13 if the small area fair market rent is not avail- 14 able, the fair market rent), including the utility 15 allowance, published by the Department of 16 Housing and Urban Development for purposes 17 of the housing choice voucher program under 18 section 8(o) of the United States Housing Act 19 of 1938 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o))— 20 ‘‘(i) in the case of a one-individual 21 household, for an efficiency, and 22 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a household com- 23 prised of more than one individual, for a 24 residence the number of bedrooms in which 25 would not require— 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:46 Oct 26, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2684.IS S2684 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •S 2684 IS ‘‘(I) more than two members of 1 the household of the individual to 2 share a bedroom, 3 ‘‘(II) children of different gen- 4 ders to share a bedroom, or 5 ‘‘(III) a household member with 6 a disability requiring medical equip- 7 ment to share a bedroom, or 8 ‘‘(B) the rent paid during the taxable year 9 by the individual (and, if married, the individ- 10 ual’s spouse) for the principal residence of the 11 individual, over 12 ‘‘(2) an amount equal to 30 percent of the ad- 13 justed gross income of the taxpayer for the taxable 14 year. 15 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUAL.—For purposes of this 16 section— 17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘eligible indi- 18 vidual’ means any individual if the rent paid during 19 the taxable year by the individual (and, if married, 20 the individual’s spouse) for the principal residence of 21 the individual exceeds 30 percent of the adjusted 22 gross income of the taxpayer for the taxable year. 23 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTIONS.—Such term shall not in- 24 clude any individual if— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:53 Oct 26, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2684.IS S2684 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •S 2684 IS ‘‘(A) the individual does not include on the 1 return of tax for the taxable year such individ- 2 ual’s taxpayer identification number and, if 3 married, the taxpayer identification number of 4 such individual’s spouse, or 5 ‘‘(B) a deduction under section 151 with 6 respect to such individual is allowable to an- 7 other taxpayer for the taxable year. 8 ‘‘(3) MARRIED INDIVIDUALS.—Such term shall 9 include an individual who is married only if a joint 10 return is filed for the taxable year. 11 ‘‘(4) SPECIAL RULES.— 12 ‘‘(A) PRINCIPAL RESIDENCE.—The term 13 ‘principal residence’ has the same meaning as 14 when used in section 121. 15 ‘‘(B) MARRIED.—Marital status shall be 16 determined under section 7703. 17 ‘‘(c) RENT.—For purposes of this section, rent paid 18 includes any amount paid for utilities of a type taken into 19 account for purposes of determining the utility allowance 20 under section 42(g)(2)(B)(ii). 21 ‘‘(d) COORDINATION WITH CERTAIN MEANS-TESTED 22 PROGRAMS.—Rules similar to the rules of section 32(l) 23 shall apply to refunds made by reason of this section. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:53 Oct 26, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2684.IS S2684 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •S 2684 IS ‘‘(e) RECONCILIATION OF CREDIT AND ADVANCE 1 PAYMENTS.—The amount of the credit allowed under this 2 section for any taxable year shall be reduced (but not 3 below zero) by the aggregate amount of any advance pay- 4 ments of such credit under section 7527A for such taxable 5 year.’’. 6 (b) ADVANCE PAYMENT OF RENTAL COSTS TAX 7 CREDIT.— 8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 77 of the Internal 9 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting after 10 section 7527 the following new section: 11 ‘‘SEC. 7527A. ADVANCE PAYMENT OF RENTAL COSTS TAX 12 CREDIT. 13 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 months after 14 the date of the enactment of the Housing, Opportunity, 15 Mobility, and Equity Act of 2019, the Secretary shall es- 16 tablish a program for making advance payments of the 17 credit allowed under section 36A on a monthly basis (de- 18 termined without regard to subsection (e) of such section) 19 to any taxpayer who— 20 ‘‘(1) the Secretary has determined, in the man- 21 ner provided in subsection (c), will be allowed such 22 credit for the taxable year, and 23 ‘‘(2) has made an election under subsection (d). 24 ‘‘(b) AMOUNT OF ADVANCE PAYMENT.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:53 Oct 26, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2684.IS S2684 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •S 2684 IS ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of subsection 1 (a), the amount of the monthly advance payment of 2 the credit provided to a taxpayer during the applica- 3 ble period shall be equal to the lesser of— 4 ‘‘(A) an amount equal to— 5 ‘‘(i) the amount of the credit which 6 the Secretary has estimated, in the manner 7 provided in subsection (c), will be allowed 8 to such taxpayer under section 36A for the 9 taxable year ending in such applicable pe- 10 riod, divided by 11 ‘‘(ii) 12, or 12 ‘‘(B) such other amount as is elected by 13 the taxpayer. 14 ‘‘(2) APPLICABLE PERIOD.—For purposes of 15 this section, the term ‘applicable period’ means the 16 12-month period from the month of July of the tax- 17 able year through the month of June of the subse- 18 quent taxable year. 19 ‘‘(c) MANNER OF DETERMINING ELIGIBILITY.—The 20 Secretary shall determine eligibility for the credit under 21 section 36A, and the estimated amount of such credit, 22 based on the taxpayer’s adjusted gross income for the pre- 23 ceding taxable year, the mean fair market rental amount 24 with respect to the individual for such preceding year, and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:53 Oct 26, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2684.IS S2684 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 •S 2684 IS the rent paid during such preceding year by the individual 1 (and, if married, the individual’s spouse) for the principal 2 residence of the individual. Any terms used in this sub- 3 section which are also used in section 36A shall have the 4 same meaning as when used in such section. 5 ‘‘(d) ELECTION OF ADVANCE PAYMENT.—A taxpayer 6 may elect to receive an advance payment of the credit al- 7 lowed under section 36A for any taxable year by including 8 such election on a timely filed return for the preceding 9 taxable year. 10 ‘‘(e) INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE NOTIFICATION.— 11 The Internal Revenue Service shall take such steps as may 12 be appropriate to ensure that taxpayers who are eligible 13 to receive the credit under section 36A are aware of the 14 availability of the advance payment of such credit under 15 this section. 16 ‘‘(f) AUTHORITY.—The Secretary may prescribe such 17 regulations or other guidance as may be appropriate or 18 necessary for the purposes of carrying out this section.’’. 19 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.— 20 (1) The table of sections for subpart C of part 21 IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Rev- 22 enue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting after the 23 item relating to section 36 the following new item: 24 ‘‘Sec. 36A. Rent costs of eligible individuals.’’. VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:53 Oct 26, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\S2684.IS S2684 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 13 •S 2684 IS (2) The table of sections for chapter 77 of such 1 Code is amended by inserting after the item relating 2 to section 7527 the following new item: 3 ‘‘Sec. 7527A. Advance payment of rental costs tax credit.’’. (d) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 4 6211(b)(4)(A) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 5 amended [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]