Housing, Opportunity, Mobility, and Equity Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4808 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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OCTOBER 23, 2019 Mr. CLYBURN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committees on Finan- cial Services, and Transportation and Infrastructure, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee con- cerned 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 22:21 Oct 28, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4808.IH H4808 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 4808 IH 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 such 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 22:21 Oct 28, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4808.IH H4808 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 4808 IH ‘‘(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 22:21 Oct 28, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4808.IH H4808 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 4808 IH of affordable housing in such 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; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:21 Oct 28, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4808.IH H4808 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 4808 IH ‘‘(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 paragraph (2)(A)— 5 ‘‘(i) be designated as affordable for 6 the useful life of the units; 7 ‘‘(ii) a proportion of the new housing 8 stock in the community that equals or ex- 9 ceeds the percentage of the population of 10 the community requiring such units in 11 order to not be an eligible individual under 12 section 36A of the Internal Revenue Code 13 of 1986 (as added by section 4 of the 14 Housing, Opportunity, Mobility, and Eq- 15 uity Act of 2019); and 16 ‘‘(iii) be accessible to the population 17 served by the program established under 18 this title; and 19 ‘‘(D) where applicable, specify how the 20 strategy will increase affordable housing options 21 for individuals living in rural areas, persistent 22 poverty counties (defined as any county with a 23 poverty rate of at least 20 percent, as deter- 24 mined in each of the 1990 and 2000 decennial 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:21 Oct 28, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4808.IH H4808 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 4808 IH censuses, and in the Bureau of the Census’s 1 Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates for 2 the most recent year for which the estimates 3 are available), and high-poverty areas (defined 4 as any census tract with a poverty rate of at 5 least 20 percent as measured by the 5-year data 6 series available from the American Community 7 Survey of the Census Bureau for 2013 to 8 2017).’’. 9 SEC. 3. REQUIREMENT FOR SURFACE TRANSPORTATION 10 BLOCK GRANT PROGRAM. 11 Section 133 of title 23, United States Code, is 12 amended— 13 (1) by redesignating subsection (i) as subsection 14 (j); and 15 (2) by inserting after subsection (h) the fol- 16 lowing: 17 ‘‘(i) IMPLEMENTATION OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING 18 STRATEGY.—A project under this section may not be car- 19 ried out unless the community in which the project is lo- 20 cated has implemented a strategy to increase affordable 21 housing stock as described in subsection (n) of section 104 22 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 23 (42 U.S.C. 5304).’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:44 Oct 29, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4808.IH H4808 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 4808 IH 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— 20 ‘‘(i) in the case of a household com- 21 prised of one individual, for an efficiency, 22 and 23 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a household com- 24 prised of more than one individual, for a 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:21 Oct 28, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4808.IH H4808 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 4808 IH residence in which the number of bedrooms 1 would not require— 2 ‘‘(I) more than two members of 3 the household to share a bedroom, 4 ‘‘(II) children of different gen- 5 ders to share a bedroom with one an- 6 other, or 7 ‘‘(III) a household member with 8 a disability requiring medical equip- 9 ment to share a bedroom, or 10 ‘‘(B) the rent paid during the taxable year 11 by the individual (and, if married, the individ- 12 ual’s spouse) for the principal residence of the 13 individual, over 14 ‘‘(2) an amount equal to 30 percent of the ad- 15 justed gross income of the taxpayer for the taxable 16 year. 17 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUAL.—For purposes of this 18 section— 19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘eligible indi- 20 vidual’ means any individual if the rent paid during 21 the taxable year by the individual (and, if married, 22 the individual’s spouse) for the principal residence of 23 the individual exceeds 30 percent of the adjusted 24 gross income of the taxpayer for the taxable year. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:21 Oct 28, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4808.IH H4808 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •HR 4808 IH ‘‘(2) EXCEPTIONS.—Such term shall not in- 1 clude any individual if— 2 ‘‘(A) the individual does not include on the 3 return of tax for the taxable year such individ- 4 ual’s taxpayer identification number and, if 5 married, the taxpayer identification number of 6 such individual’s spouse, or 7 ‘‘(B) a deduction under section 151 with 8 respect to such individual is allowable to an- 9 other taxpayer for the taxable year. 10 ‘‘(3) MARRIED INDIVIDUALS.—Such term shall 11 include an individual who is married only if a joint 12 return is filed for the taxable year. 13 ‘‘(4) SPECIAL RULES.— 14 ‘‘(A) PRINCIPAL RESIDENCE.—The term 15 ‘principal residence’ has the same meaning as 16 when used in section 121. 17 ‘‘(B) MARRIED.—Marital status shall be 18 determined under section 7703. 19 ‘‘(c) RENT.—For purposes of this section, rent paid 20 includes any amount paid for utilities of a type taken into 21 account for purposes of determining the utility allowance 22 under section 42(g)(2)(B)(ii). 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:21 Oct 28, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4808.IH H4808 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •HR 4808 IH ‘‘(d) COORDINATION WITH CERTAIN MEANS-TESTED 1 PROGRAMS.—Rules similar to the rules of section 32(l) 2 shall apply to refunds made by reason of this section. 3 ‘‘(e) RECONCILIATION OF CREDIT AND ADVANCE 4 PAYMENTS.—The amount of the credit allowed under this 5 section for any taxable year shall be reduced (but not 6 below zero) by the aggregate amount of any advance pay- 7 ments of such credit under section 7527A for such taxable 8 year.’’. 9 (b) ADVANCE PAYMENT OF RENTAL COSTS TAX 10 CREDIT.— 11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 77 of the Internal 12 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting after 13 section 7527 the following new section: 14 ‘‘SEC. 7527A. ADVANCE PAYMENT OF RENTAL COSTS TAX 15 CREDIT. 16 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 months after 17 the date of the enactment of the Housing, Opportunity, 18 Mobility, and Equity Act of 2019, the Secretary shall es- 19 tablish a program for making advance payments of the 20 credit allowed under section 36A on a monthly basis (de- 21 termined without regard to subsection (e) of such section) 22 to any taxpayer who— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:21 Oct 28, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4808.IH H4808 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •HR 4808 IH ‘‘(1) the Secretary has determined, in the man- 1 ner provided in subsection (c), will be allowed such 2 credit for the taxable year, and 3 ‘‘(2) has made an election under subsection (d). 4 ‘‘(b) AMOUNT OF ADVANCE PAYMENT.— 5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of subsection 6 (a), the amount of the monthly advance payment of 7 the credit provided to a taxpayer during the applica- 8 ble period shall be equal to the lesser of— 9 ‘‘(A) an amount equal to— 10 ‘‘(i) the amount of the credit which 11 the Secretary has estimated, in the manner 12 provided in subsection (c), will be allowed 13 to such taxpayer under section 36A for the 14 taxable year ending in such applicable pe- 15 riod, divided by 16 ‘‘(ii) 12, or 17 ‘‘(B) such other amount as is elected by 18 the taxpayer. 19 ‘‘(2) APPLICABLE PERIOD.—For purposes of 20 this section, the term ‘applicable period’ means the 21 12-month period from the month of July of the tax- 22 able year through the month of June of the subse- 23 quent taxable year. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:21 Oct 28, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4808.IH H4808 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 •HR 4808 IH ‘‘(c) MANNER OF DETERMINING ELIGIBILITY.—The 1 Secretary shall determine eligibility for the credit under 2 section 36A, and the estimated amount of such credit, 3 based on the taxpayer’s adjusted gross income for the pre- 4 ceding taxable year, the mean fair market rental amount 5 with respect to the individual for such preceding year, and 6 the rent paid during such preceding year by the individual 7 (and, if married, the individual’s spouse) for the principal 8 residence of the individual. Any terms used in this sub- 9 section which are also used in section 36A shall have the 10 same meaning as when used in such section. 11 ‘‘(d) ELECTION OF ADVANCE PAYMENT.—A taxpayer 12 may elect to receive an advance payment of the credit al- 13 lowed under section 36A for any taxable year by including 14 such election on a timely filed return for the preceding 15 taxable year. 16 ‘‘(e) INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE NOTIFICATION.— 17 The Internal Revenue Service shall take such steps as may 18 be appropriate to ensure that taxpayers who are eligible 19 to receive the credit under section 36A are aware of the 20 availability of the advance payment of such credit under 21 this section. 22 ‘‘(f) AUTHORITY.—The Secretary may prescribe such 23 regulations or other guidance as may be appropriate or 24 necessary for the purposes of carrying out this section.’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:21 Oct 28, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4808.IH H4808 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 13 •HR 4808 IH (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.— 1 (1) The table of sections for subpart C of part 2 IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Rev- 3 enue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting after the 4 item relating to section 36 the following new item: 5 ‘‘Sec. 36A. Rent costs of eligible individuals.’’. (2) T [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]