Affordable Housing and Area Median Income Fairness Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4984 To increase the supply of, and lower rents for, affordable housing and to adjust calculations of area median income for purposes of Federal low- income housing assistance, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES NOVEMBER 5, 2019 Ms. CLARKE of New York (for herself, Ms. MENG, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. SERRANO, Ms. NORTON, Mr. NADLER, and Mr. ESPAILLAT) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Fi- nancial Services, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, 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 concerned A BILL To increase the supply of, and lower rents for, affordable housing and to adjust calculations of area median income for purposes of Federal low-income housing assistance, 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 ‘‘Affordable Housing 4 and Area Median Income Fairness Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:55 Nov 13, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4984.IH H4984 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 4984 IH SEC. 2. AREA MEDIAN INCOME FAIRNESS. 1 Subparagraph (D) of section 3(b)(2) of the United 2 States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437a(b)(2)(D)) 3 is amended— 4 (1) in the second sentence, by inserting ‘‘(in 5 this subparagraph referred to as the ‘covered juris- 6 dictions’)’’ before the fifth comma; 7 (2) in the third sentence— 8 (A) by striking ‘‘Westchester or Rockland 9 Counties’’ and inserting ‘‘the covered jurisdic- 10 tions’’; and 11 (B) by striking ‘‘included Westchester and 12 Rockland Counties’’ and inserting ‘‘does not in- 13 clude the covered jurisdictions’’; and 14 (3) in the fourth sentence, by striking ‘‘include 15 Westchester and Rockland Counties, New York, in’’ 16 and inserting ‘‘exclude the covered jurisdictions 17 from’’. 18 SEC. 3. HIGH HOUSING COST ADJUSTMENT FAIRNESS. 19 Subparagraph (D) of section 3(b)(2) of the United 20 States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437a(b)(2)(D)), 21 as amended by the preceding provisions of this Act, is fur- 22 ther amended by adding at the end the following: ‘‘For 23 purposes of the low-income housing tax credit program 24 under section 42 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 25 and the exempt facilities bond program under section 142 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:55 Nov 13, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4984.IH H4984 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 4984 IH of such Code, the Secretary may not apply, for any city, 1 county, and other such jurisdiction, for the purposes of 2 calculating the area median income or any related metric, 3 in the instances where it is used to derive the income limits 4 or rent amounts for such programs for a given area, a 5 high housing cost adjustment, unless such jurisdiction pe- 6 titions the Secretary to apply such adjustment to such 7 city, county, or other such jurisdiction. The Secretary 8 shall review and grant such petitions made by any legal 9 and proper authority within the relevant jurisdiction, in- 10 cluding petitions enacted by popular referendum. The pre- 11 ceding two sentences may not be construed to affect hous- 12 ing vouchers under section 8 or to carry out any other 13 purpose than those specifically stated in such sentences.’’. 14 SEC. 4. LOW-INCOME HOUSING TAX CREDIT DISCLOSURES. 15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 42 of the Internal Rev- 16 enue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the 17 following new subsection: 18 ‘‘(o) ANNUAL REPORTING.—No credit shall be al- 19 lowed under subsection (a) with respect to a qualified low- 20 income building for a taxable year unless the following in- 21 formation is submitted (in such manner and at such time 22 as the Secretary requires) to the relevant housing credit 23 agency: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:55 Nov 13, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4984.IH H4984 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 4984 IH ‘‘(1) All expenditures after the date of the allo- 1 cation under subsection (h) that substantially affect 2 the basis of such building. 3 ‘‘(2) The projected rents of the affordable units 4 in such building during the 5-year period following 5 such submission. 6 ‘‘(3) The annual profits attributable to such 7 building. 8 ‘‘(4) The annual expenditures attributable to 9 tax credit syndication. 10 ‘‘(5) Any other information required by the Sec- 11 retary that is reasonably necessary to determine pro- 12 gram compliance.’’. 13 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 14 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 15 the date of the enactment of this Act. 16 SEC. 5. URGENT SUPPORT FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING IN- 17 FRASTRUCTURE. 18 (a) HOME INVESTMENT PARTNERSHIPS PROGRAM.— 19 (1) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 20 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 21 title II of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Afford- 22 able Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 1721 et seq.) 23 $2,500,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 24 through 2029. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:55 Nov 13, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4984.IH H4984 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 4984 IH (2) LIMITATION.—Any amounts appropriated 1 pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be used only for as- 2 sistance for any area within a participating jurisdic- 3 tion for which the Secretary has applied, or would 4 have applied prior to the enactment of this Act, a 5 high housing cost adjustment. 6 (b) COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANTS.— 7 (1) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 8 There is authorized to be appropriated for commu- 9 nity development block grant assistance under sec- 10 tion 106 of the Housing and Community Develop- 11 ment Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5306) $2,500,000,000 12 for each of fiscal years 2020 through 2029. 13 (2) LIMITATION.—Any amounts appropriated 14 pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be used only for as- 15 sistance for any area within a metropolitan city or 16 urban county for which the Secretary has applied, or 17 would have applied prior to the enactment of this 18 Act, a high housing cost adjustment. 19 (c) HOUSING TRUST FUND.— 20 (1) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 21 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Hous- 22 ing Trust Fund established under section 1338(a) of 23 the Federal Housing Enterprises Financial Safety 24 and Soundness Act of 1992 (12 U.S.C. 4568(a)) 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:55 Nov 13, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4984.IH H4984 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 4984 IH $2,500,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 1 through 2029. 2 (2) LIMITATION.—Any amounts appropriated 3 pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be used only for as- 4 sistance to be used within any area within a unit of 5 general local government for which the Secretary has 6 applied, or would have applied prior to the enact- 7 ment of this Act, a high housing cost adjustment. 8 SEC. 6. ASSESSMENT REGARDING OPTIMIZING USE OF 9 AREA MEDIAN INCOME TO SUPPORT AFFORD- 10 ABLE HOUSING IN URBAN AREAS. 11 (a) ASSESSMENT OF ALTERNATIVE CALCULATION 12 METHODS.—Not later than 180 days after the date of the 13 enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall commence an 14 assessment of alternative methods for calculating area me- 15 dian income, and the use of alternative metrics, for pro- 16 grams administered by the Secretary that would make 17 housing more affordable for low-income families residing 18 in urban areas nationwide, which shall include analysis of 19 the topics identified in subsection (b). 20 (b) REPORT.—Not later than two years after the date 21 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit 22 to the Committee on Financial Services of the House of 23 Representatives and the Committee on Banking, Housing, 24 and Urban Affairs of the Senate, and make publicly avail- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:55 Nov 13, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4984.IH H4984 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 4984 IH able, a report setting forth the results of the assessment 1 conducted pursuant to subsection (a), which shall in- 2 clude— 3 (1) a review and summarization of significant 4 findings and recommendations from any related pre- 5 vious reports regarding area median income; 6 (2) an assessment of the extent and impacts of 7 the affordable housing crisis in urban areas nation- 8 wide, particularly within jurisdictions for which the 9 Secretary has applied a high housing cost adjust- 10 ment; 11 (3) an analysis and assessment of the effects 12 that high housing cost adjustments have had on in- 13 come limits and rent prices in jurisdictions for which 14 the Secretary has applied such an adjustment; 15 (4) an assessment of the potential impacts to 16 affordable housing, particularly on income limits and 17 rent prices, of calculating area median income on a 18 zip-code level basis and using other localized meth- 19 odologies; 20 (5) assess and propose a process through which 21 State housing authorities may designate area me- 22 dian income jurisdictions within that State; 23 (6) an assessment of alternative metrics to area 24 median income for the purposes of setting income 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:55 Nov 13, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4984.IH H4984 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 4984 IH levels and related thresholds for affordable housing 1 programs administered by the Secretary; 2 (7) recommendations for how the Secretary 3 could reform or eliminate use of area median income 4 for the purposes of making housing more affordable 5 for low-income and middle class families in urban 6 areas; and 7 (8) any further recommendations for how the 8 Secretary could make housing more affordable for 9 low-income and middle class families in urban areas. 10 (c) METHODOLOGY.—Not later than 90 days after 11 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 12 submit a report to the Committee on Financial Services 13 of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 14 Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate de- 15 scribing the methodology that will be used to conduct the 16 assessment under this section. 17 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 18 For purposes of this Act, the following definitions 19 shall apply: 20 (1) AREA MEDIAN INCOME.—The term ‘‘area 21 median income’’ means median income for an area, 22 as such term is used in section 3(b) of the United 23 States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437a(b)), 24 median family income, and any other substantively 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:55 Nov 13, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4984.IH H4984 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •HR 4984 IH similar metric that the Secretary uses to refer to the 1 median income level for a given area or jurisdiction 2 for purposes of any program administered by the 3 Secretary. 4 (2) HIGH HOUSING COST ADJUSTMENT.—The 5 term ‘‘high housing cost adjustment’’ means an ad- 6 justment for high housing costs or high construction 7 costs, or any substantively similar adjustment that 8 the Secretary may use to increase income limits for 9 areas where the cost of housing is abnormally high 10 compared to the median income for such area, for 11 purposes of any program administered by the Sec- 12 retary. 13 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 14 the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. 15 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:55 Nov 13, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4984.IH H4984 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS